Innocence
by Ms. Faker
Summary: AU. When Allen lost Mana, and unintentionally let the Earl turn Mana into and Akuma, he never thought he'd be forced to kill his father, nor did he expect the earl to take an interest in him. Taken in by the Noah family, and his Noah genes awoken ahead of time, Allen is ordered by the Earl to infiltrate the Black order as an exorcist and find the heart that is no doubt with them.
1. Chapter 1: Change of fates

What if the Earl found out Allen was a Noah when he turned Mana into an Akuma? That is what this fic basically looks at. an AU where things didn't go exactly to plan, but also, looks into the mysteries of the series and it's main plot.

So this is actually my first ever -man fic and i'm nervous as always, and i really do hope you guys like it as much as i did writing it. so without further ado!

Chapter 1

Change of fates

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A harsh, and gut wrenching sound penetrated the silence calling everyone to attention. The place itself was an old graveyard. Its tombstones crooked as ever, and mist curled around said tombstones and covered the ground from view with its think density. A crow flew from one tombstone to another, then it tilted its head and looked down at the lonely child curled in on himself on the ground, weeping softly, with his strange red and deformed arm lying beside him limply almost as if he couldn't use it anymore. The crow gave out a loud shriek then flew away, passing by the demonic looking man with a top hat and bright yellow glasses, and flying to the darkness.

The Millennium Earl stood in front of the boy looking down at him with both anger, and curiosity. Anger, because a mere boy was able to deafest one of his Akuma, albeit a newly turned Akuma, but still. No child, exorcist or not should be able to defeat and Akuma so easily, which brought him to his next emotion. Curiosity.

When he had seen the boy's hand incapacitated the Akuma he had almost vanished right there and then, seeing as there was no point in staying behind and watch the boy kill the Akuma, but then he had felt something odd. Something extremely odd, and something that caused his hair to rise up. Something he knew, but couldn't quite place, and that unknown thing forced him to stay. That and the fact that he didn't feel the need to kill the boy even though he was a possible future exorcist, which was strange. Every Noah, including himself felt the need to destroy innocence, and kill exorcists. It was in their blood after all. So why hadn't he felt that? In fact just thinking about killing the boy made him angry, and unwilling to cause him any harm. The only time he had ever felt like that was when...

The Earl giggled wickedly, and bent his back slightly so that he was almost face to face with the crying boy who seemed in shook.

"Say exorcist, mind telling me who you are?" He asked with a giggle at the end. Not at all caring that the boy was in shook, or that he had forced him to kill his own father.

The now recently turned white haired boy didn't look up at the Earl right away, he kept staring emptily at the ground. It was only after what felt like minutes that he did look up, and looked at the Earl with shook and sadness. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his nose had a slight hint of snot on it, but the boy didn't care to clean it. He simply looked straight at the Earl with the familiar cold eyes he had seen on humans who had lost everything after he turned their loved ones into Akumas. And though he had seen and done the same thing to countless other humans, and though he didn't feel any pity or sadness for them, for some reason he could feel something stir inside of him, something small and something he couldn't fathom why he was feeling towards a human, which made him wonder even more as to who this boy was.

"Well then?" He giggled ones more, but the boy didn't so much as blink and kept looking at him with the same cold expression.

The Earl shifted on his spot impatiently. It wouldn't do to stay here all day and risk any other pesky exorcists coming about this area and cause problems.

The Earl placed Lero on his shoulder and knelt down in front of the boy, and looked at him straight in the eyes, and though most humans were usually frightened or shocked by his appearance, the boy simply looked straight at into his eyes with little emotions.

"Who are you?" He asked with a serious tone this time, and for a moment it seemed that a spark of recognition passed through his eyes.

"A-All… Allen." He answered with a soft, and barely audible voice.

The Earl shifted on his spot and gave the boy and inquisitive look. "Allen?" He asked more to himself than at the boy. Now where had he heard that name before, that name that was just at the tip of his tongue?

The boy didn't say anything, and he simply kept staring into space, while tears kept flowing down his cheeks. Meanwhile the Earl looked at the boy confused, and deep in thought, thankful that his expression was hiding by his ever helpful mask. He knew that he had heard that name somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it, and the odd feeling he got for the boy -a human no less- were strange. As a Noah he hated humans, and exorcists even more, so there was only one explanation for all of this… the boy had to be something else, and there was only one way to find out.

The Earl brought his gloved hand up slowly as if afraid to startle the child, and softly placed it on his shoulder. The boy named Allen flinched slightly, but he didn't say or do anything until the Earl began to rummage around his mind. As if on cue, Allen's brows furrowed and he gave out a sharp cry of pain, as the Earl looked through his mind without mercy.

He didn't any any attention at Allen's struggle, and instead looked through thought after childish thoughts and memories of a man Mana that seemed oddly familiar for some reason, and for a moment he thought of giving up until he came across a memory that was locked away from him. Curious, the Earl approached the memory and tempted to access it but no matter how much he tried it wouldn't budge, and so the Earl moved away from the memory and looked deeper and deeper. He rummaged through the boy's thoughts, until he came to the core of who he was… his human essence and the disgusting innocence that was attached to him. The Earl looked around trying to find answers, until he finally saw it. It was barely noticeable, and could have been easily missed, but thankfully didn't he didn't.

Deep, and buried in the boy's essence was the ever present Noah gene that every human possessed, but unlike any other human this boy had a large amount of them, and even stranger they seemed to be active rather than dormant.

The Earl tightened his hold on the boy who kept struggling.

When a human became a Noah the Noah genes inside of them would activate and consume every trace of humanity inside their host body until only the Noah genes remained, turning the human into one of his beloved family members. But for some strange reason the Noah genes -though active- didn't seem to be attacking the boy or the innocence, but rather stayed away from them as if biding its time. Who was this kid?

In shook, the Earl let go of Allen and quickly sprang to his feet. He looked down at the boy with confusion, and shook. In all of his time as the Earl, he had never heard of a human having active Noah genes but not turning into a Noah, in fact it was by all rights impossible. Humans and Noah's are vastly different species even though humans originate from Noah's, it still made it impossible for human genes and Noah genes to coexist in a body. It would be like mixing oil and water, and he didn't even want to think about the fact that the boy is also, an accommodator.

The Earl grip on Lero tightened. Noah or not this boy was dangerous, if left unchecked he could be used by the exorcists and used against them. So with just that reason he knew he should just dispose of the boy, but then he felt the same odd feeling as well as the reluctance to kill another fellow family member. Of course he didn't know if the boy was really a Noah, or human or whatever it is he was, but just knowing that there was a possibility that he was indeed a host, he couldn't hurt him. His instincts as a Noah prohibited it.

The Earl looked around the dark graveyard as if making sure no one was looking. When he was satisfied no one was around, the Earl looked at the boy who wasn't even looking at him, and offered him his hand.

"This place is no fun!" He sang. "Come with me Allen." He chirped and the boy simply kept staring at his hand not moving or making any motion to want to move or even acknowledge what the Earl said. He was too deep in his own thoughts to care, and so the Earl looked around again, and swiftly knelt by the boy and carried him on his arm with ease. The boy didn't so much as look at him, and so the Earl carried him away.

Meanwhile, behind a tree and under shadows, Cross Marian was looking at the event unfold with concern. "Damn." Was all he said as the Earl left with Allen.

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Author's notes: so what did you guys think? let me know what you think and review!


	2. Chapter 2: Memories of a lonely piano

Chapter 2

Memories of a lonely piano

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Road walked in circles on top of a polished chair, her small figure and nimble body didn't so much as cause the chair to shake as she walked, and every now and again she hopped from one table to another, back the top of the chair, doing so with the agility and grace of a cat. She didn't usually spend her free time walking circles on top of a table, or wondering about. She usually spent her free time annoying Tyki, or with Sheril, who would sometimes brush her hair with glee. However, today was quite different. The Earl had just returned after being away for such a long time, and just as he had come back and they had all rejoiced, Millennium went away once more claiming that he had a lot of work to do and refused to take a rest. It wasn't unusual for him to go out on his own, seeing as he needed to create more Akumas, but after not seeing him for such a long time Road couldn't shake of the feeling that something wasn't right. She of course, knew he needed his time to process things and to heal from what happened thirty five years ago, but for all that time he had been away she never once felt uneasy. It felt like and itch she couldn't quite scratch, and it felt odd and worrying that she was feeling this way, which is why she worried. She knew the Earl could take care of himself much better than any other Noah, but as one of the apostles and therefore one of his protector she couldn't shake of the feeling that she needed to make sure he was alright, which is why she proposed accompanying him.

She usually didn't accompany him, but when she did he didn't usually refuse. This time however, when she asked him he had given her his familiar giggle, and pat her head adoringly like one would do their child, and said. "There's no need. _I'll be alright, and if not Lero will protect me!_ " He sang, with a protest from Lero. So with that he left hours ago, and hadn't come back even though he was supposed to come back a long time ago.

Road turned her head and glanced at the clock shaped as a bat. An hour had already passed, and still no signs of the Earl. Road huffed in annoyance and leaped down from one of the chairs and turned to face the large doors. She crossed her arms, and glared at the doors in indignation. She knew that nothing was stopping her from going out and looking for the Earl whether he liked it or not. She was worried for him, and worried of the odd feeling of forewarning she was feeling. In all her years of experience as a Noah she knew it was never good to push aside any odd emotions she felt, because she knew they were a sort of warning hardwired into every Noah telling them something was not quite right, and if she felt that then she was certain every member of her family could.

"Yo, Road." A male voice called out, and Road turned around to come face to face with Tyki.

"Off to cause chaos are we? You know it doesn't bode well for you to go have fun while we're all here worrying." She chastised with a grin, and a voice that sounded more amused than angry. Hence her nature, she was just wanted to tease Tyki. She knew he was off to one of his adventures he liked to partake on his own, and she knew that because he was using his white form. Road never truly understood why Tyki liked to go out and pretend to be a human, even though he hasn't been one for quite some time, and as far as she knew the last incarnation of Joyd was never like that. She often wanted to question it, but it would be too much work so she guessed that it was because for some reason Tyki still held on to his humanity, but in complete contrast, he also enjoyed bringing misery to humans like any other Noah, so it didn't really make any sense to her.

Tyki frowned, and placed his hand on his hip. "Worrying? Is that what I've been feeling all this time?" He asked curiously.

Road placed her hands behind her back, and swayed from side to side. "Aww, our Tyki has been worrying over our dear Earl." She sang, and Tyki huffed and looked away from her in both annoyance and a bit of embarrassment.

"Shut it, you were the one to say we were all worried so tell me. What's going on?" He asked annoyed, and looking back at her.

Road grinned, and gave Tyki a knowing look. She knew that Tyki was aware that the Earl had gone out, and that -like her- he had been worrying over him. And now that she thought about it, could it be he was going out on the pretence to go on one of his adventures, but really he was going to check on the Earl to make sure he was alright? She wouldn't put it past him to do so, seeing as how secretive Tyki thought he was, but really he was more transparent than all other Noahs.

"Nah, I think you're just missing our dear Earl and would like him back to give him a big hug." She teased.

"Road…" he warned while looking at her all serious, but Road didn't heed the warning and simply approached him and began circling him. She knew Tyki wouldn't hurt her, not just because Sheril would lose it, but because -and though he denied it- he actually seemed to like her company.

Road laughed, and kept circling Tyki with a hop to her step. Meanwhile Tyki glared holes at her, but ultimately gave up and sighed in defeat, and that's when Road stopped circling him.

"You'd like to know what's going on?" She asked with a chirp.

Tyki glared at her one last time and huffed. "Any time you're ready." He grumbled, tilting his head.

Road smiled, and twirled on her spot. She had no idea what was really going on of course, but teasing Tyki was always fun and stopped her from looking for the Earl herself.

"Hmm, let me see…" She drawled, and tap her index finger against her lips in thought. She stayed like that for at least a minute, until Tyki took in a deep breath and she knew she was testing his patience.

Road sighed, and put her hands on her hips imitating Tyki, and looked up at him. "I don't… I thought you knew Tyki." She sang, while giving him the most adorable look she could possibly pull off.

Of course that didn't work on him, and Tyki's nose flared as he frowned at her. Road continued to smile at him not at all worried, until Tyki quickly snatched her by her shirt collar, lifted her, and brought her to be eye level with him.

"What?" He asked annoyed, while Road struggled comically mid-air, but Tyki didn't so much as flinch or show any signs of exhaustion from holding her midair.

"I said I don't know." She pouted and stopped struggling. She simply hung mid-air limply, as she looked straight at Tyki.

"Road you better tell me, or I'm never ever going to play with you." He drawled with a singsong voice and a smile.

"Ooh Tyki, don't make promises you can't keep. We both know you have a soft spot for me!" She teased, while tapping Tyki's check who pulled her away from him with a huff.

"That's hardly-"

Before Tyki could finish the sentence, the doors banged open, causing both of them to tense and turn to look at the doors with concern. A gust of cold air entered through the room, sweeping back both Tyki's and Road's hair back. The candles by the walls flickered, and some of them went out putting the room in a semi darkness. Tyki and Road kept looking at the door unsure as to how to proceed, while Tyki still held on to Road, and changed to his black form.

Another gust of wind passed through the door, and that was when finally a figure came into view. Neither Road nor Tyki moved as the figure got closer and closer revealing a bright yellow figure, until the Earl was standing outside the door. Millennium took a sure step inside, and the doors shut behind him.

"Millennie" She shouted in excitement, and tore herself out of Tyki's grip and ran towards the Earl.

"Road!" He sang, as Road lunged at him and hugged him. Road smiled as she felt his body hum from amusement, and her grip tightening as her Noah instincts calmed down. The Earl was fine, and safe. Whatever that feeling she got before -though strange- was gone and she now felt silly for worrying over him.

Road closed her eyes and tightened her grip, until she felt something odd. Road's eyes snapped open and she looked down in shock. Sleeping on the Earl's arms laid a boy, a handsome white haired boy around the age of twelve, who had a stark red pentagram above his eye. But what was the most shocking was that the boy was human, and not just any human, but an exorcist as well.

On instinct Road leaped away from the Earl. Her Noah instincts stirred inside of her, telling her to both get away from the exorcist, and to kill him as quickly as possible despite being a mere boy.

Silence dominated the room as Road and the Earl, and Tyki looked at each other in both shook and confusion. Road shifted on her spot and broke the silence at last. "Hmm, Millennie who is that?" She asked curiously and confused.

The Earl's glasses glinted as he looked down at Road. "This boy here? Well his name's Allen!" He beamed.

Road's brows shoot up at the mention of the name. ' _Allen.'_ She repeated to herself, as if tasting the name. She had once known someone name Allen before, and he too had white hair like the boy. The difference however, was that the Allen she knew was much older and his surname was Walker, and had no pentagram on his eye.

Road took an attentive step forward, and peered at the sleeping boy curiously. He did look a lot like the Allen Walker she knew, but as a younger version of course and just as handsome. Road leaned even closer until her nose was practically touching Allen's cheek, as her hands held on the Earl's for support seeing as she was smaller and had to go on her tippy toes.

"Allen?" She asked curiously, while Allen scrunched up his nose, and furrowed his brows in displeasure and turned his head away from Road and into the Earl's chest. "Aww." She cooed at how cute the kid looked, and quickly looked up at the Earl with bright open eyes. "Can we keep him?" She asked excitedly.

Before the Earl could answer, Tyki walked to where they were standing and pushed Road away from the Earl so that he too could look at the boy. Road gave out a huff of annoyance as Tyki leaned down to get a closer look of the boy.

"He's human, and an exorcist." Was all he said a bit shocked and disgusted, then proceeded to move away and look at the Earl.

"You can't possibly mean to give him to Road. She'll forget to feed him, and train him and then it'll be me who'll be stuck with him." He declared, and Road smacked his arm.

"Would not! Right Millennie?"

The Earl looked from one to the other and cackled, causing Allen to stir on his arm but still not waking up.

"I like the idea of a pet in the family, maybe we should really think about that someday."

Tyki's brows twitched. "I thought Jasdevi had already taken that role." he grumbled, and Road giggled.

"Now, now Tyki, don't make fun of your family, especially not in front of a potential family member." He chastised, his amusement dying down as he spoke and looked at both of them.

In an instant all amusement left the room, and was replaced by tension. The room itself, fell silent as Tyki and Road looked at the Earl in shook. The gust of wind could be heard from outside the room, as both of them processed the implication. On one side Tyki wondered if he heard the Earl right, while on the other Road was already putting things together in her mid. Her thoughts went back to her memories -a dangerous place to be, seeing as how painful it was to remember- and as she rummaged through her memories, things finally clicked. If this boy was indeed a Noah host, and his name was Allen then this could only mean…

"Allen, as in Allen Walker." She mumbled to herself, while Tyki looked at her confused.

"What?"

Road shook her head dismissing him, all amusement gone as she looked at from the boy to the Earl. Seeing the boy holding on to the Earl, and seeing them both together in general brought a feeling of nostalgia, and a pang of sorrow as she recalled those old days.

Road hummed. Things were definitely going to become complicated fast, and she hoped that they were all ready for it, especially the ones currently present in the room.

"You said Allen Walker. How can you know his name if this is the first time you've met him?" Tyki asked sounding both concerned, and curious.

Road shrugged, and glanced at Tyki. "Suppose I just read his mind." she lied, something she knew Tyki would be able to catch on quite easily.

As expected, Tyki's brows furrowed and he opened his mouth but before he could say anything Millennium interrupted.

"Well if were quite done with the hundred questions, I would like to put the boy somewhere he can sleep in peace. He just had a long night after all." he laughed, as he walked towards them and passed by them but not even looking at either of them.

Both Tyki and Road stood frozen on their spot, both looking at one another until something snapped in them and they both followed the Earl down the corridor. Their quick pace slowed down as they caught up to him, and the both of them fell in formation. Tyki by the Earl's right and Road on the left, who was holding on to his yellow coat with a tight grip, and looking at the sleeping form of Allen who still had half of his face buried in Millennium's chest. Road smiled fondly at the white haired boy. He was cute, just as the older Allen Walker had been, But now she wondered how he might look as a Noah.

"Millennie, how will you turn him into one of our family members?" She asked innocently, even though she already knew the answer but wanted to hear it from the Earl himself.

"That's simple enough, I'll simply awaken and expand the Noah genes inside him." He answered, as he looked at Road.

"You can do that?" Asked Tyki curiously, without missing a step as they proceeded to walk up a set of stairs.

"Not really." The Earl sang, and Tyki resisted the urge to deadpan.

"You see before a human awakens as a Noah, their latent cells are dormant, and as the years go by they slowly awake and take over the body. This process could take years depending on the host, and its compatibility. Now, imagine what would happen if I were to awaken those cells ahead of time?"

Tyki frowned, and adopted a thoughtful look. "The host would die?" He asked unsure.

"Bingo!" The earl laughed, causing Allen to groan in his sleep. "The host would die, and then we'd have to wait who knows how long for a new host to emerge. However, Allen is different" he declared with a serious tone.

"Because Allen has already awoken his Noah cells." Road answered with a singsong voice instead of the Earl this time, and looked at Tyki who was now looking at her curiously.

"Exactly Road! Allen has already awoken his Noah genes at an unprecedented age, but even stranger is that the genes are not attacking his human ones. In fact, the genes seem to be in harmony with his human ones, and even stranger the innocence in him."

Just as it did when the Earl arrived, everyone fell silent, and Tyki's mouth fell open ever so slightly. Silence passed through them, as they continued to walk. Tyki was trying to process everything while Road who was probably the only one that knew what all of this meant, and was already thinking on the future. She of course knew who Allen was, and which Noah he was the host of. It was rather obvious.

"So how do we get the genes to take over his human ones?" Asked Tyki, as he took out a cigarette and placed it gently on his lips.

"This is a rather unique case but I believe that I can give poor Allen's Noah genes a push, and cause them to react and overtake his human genes." Millennium theorized, as Tyki lit his cigarette and took a long puff.

Tyki reached for his cigarette, kept his fingers on the cigarette for a little while then let out a long puff. "Do you know which Noah he's the host off?" He asked, going straight to the point.

As if one cue and just as Tyki asked that question, a surge of scrambled and powerful emotions emanated from the Earl that were so strong that even Road and Tyki felt it. Both Noah's practically froze on the spot as they stared at their Earl, even Road -who knew him better than anyone else- looked at Millennium with concern.

Neither of them said anything more, as the continued to walk in silence, until the Earl suddenly stopped out of nowhere and turned to face Tyki and Road. The strange emotions dissipating as he looked at both of them. "That is to be seen, but for now I need you Tyki to find the rest of our family and tell them to come back. Until Allen awakens as a Noah all missions are hereby suspended until further notice." He sang with his usual amusement, but for some reason it sounded forced. Something was affecting the Millennium greatly, and Road knew exactly what that was.

Road looked from the Earl to Tyki, and caught the brief expression of annoyance on his face. Road couldn't really tell what Tyki was feeling, or what he was thinking but she knew Tyki was put off by the idea that the Earl wasn't being forthcoming with him, because Tyki knew both she and and the Earl we're hiding things from him. For a moment Road felt bad that she couldn't tell him, but as always she knew it was for his own good. He, nor most of her family members including the Earl were ready to know the whole truth. The truth that would change their lives, just as it did thirty five years ago. Road now knew, that all she could do was enjoy the numbered days of peace they had left, until his return.

Tyki simply nodded, and took of his top hat and bowed with a flourish. "Of course, my lord Millennium." He said without a hint of anger and annoyance that his face had shown before. And with that Tyki gave Road one last curious glance, put his top hat back on and left without saying anything else.

"Goodbye, Tyki!" She called out, and Tyki simply waved at her as his form slowly disappeared down the hall.

"Let's go then." The Earl called back, not wasting any time as the door to the room they stood before swung open without anyone touching it. Road looked back, and quickly followed Millennium inside the room, not questioning where they were going.

As she and the Earl stepped into the dark room, the candles lit on by themselves revealing a dusty bedroom that no one had clearly stepped inside for quite some time. Road took a tentative step inside and looked around. The room was identical to every Noah's room, however this one was slightly larger and looked almost identical to the Earl's with its choice of colour schemes and the large four poster bed in the middle.

As Road looked around some more, and she suddenly realized where she was. A pang of nostalgia and sorrow pieced her heart. She knew this room. She had been inside this room in the past, and the memories that the walls held made her heart squeeze. When they had walked to the room she hadn't paid attention to where they were going, but now that she was inside she wished she had noticed earlier, that way she could have volunteered to go with Tyki even though she knew the Earl would have insisted she'd stayed. Road closed her eyes, hoping that when she reopened them they would be in another room, but when she briefly reopened them her gaze fell on the courner of the room, and that is when she saw it. A grand white piano, that was aesthetically simple but elegant, and imposing. Upon the music rack laid various old and tinted sheets laid scattered, and as her eyes looked down she noticed some of them laid on the ground crumpled, as if the owner of the piano had been working hard on a composition and had crumpled up the pieces he did not agree with.

Road pulled back her gaze, and looked at the entire piano. She felt her eyes water. The piano was dusty, showing that clearly no one had sat on its bench or even touched it since the last time its original owner was here. In fact it looked almost as if the piano was frozen in time, holding on to the last moment **HE** played its keys, with its scribbled papers that laid on top of it. And as she looked at it she could practically see him seating there practicing and composing. _'Will you play for me?'_ She had often asked him, to which he would give her his brightest smile and gestured for her to seat on the bench while he played. Sometimes he would play something that went with what he was feeling at the moment, and other times he would grab her hands and teach her how to play, and some rare times he would play a song he had written specifically for her… songs she still could still hear to this day.

Road closed her eyes once more, as she felt her old wounds reopened. Her Memories were scrambled, ranging from happiness, to sorrow to even fear as she opened her eyes and looked at the bed that was identical to Millennium's. She remembered it clearly as if she was actually there again, as she held on fiercely to the unconscious Mana, and **HE** looked down at her with a level of anger, and betrayal she had never seen on anyone before, or since.

Road felt a lonely tear fall down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away before Millennium could see it and ask what was wrong because she couldn't really tell him. Couldn't really reopen an old wound he had done everything in his power to forget, only to realize that it would never leave him. Road looked away from the piano, and at the Earl who was putting Allen down on the bed gently, like a father would a son.

Of course, she knew the Earl had no idea as to why he was feeling such strong emotions, or why he had brought Allen to this specific room, though he probably already deduced by now which Noah Allen was the host of, and like any other Noah he would know that he was the one who betrayed them thirty five years ago, but he wouldn't know exactly why or what their relationship was.

She took a deep breath, and composed herself and got her memories under control. "So… are you gonna do it now?" She asked as she hopped over to the bed to stand beside him. She looked down at Allen who had his brows furrowed, and clenching on to a pillow fiercely for dear life.

"He's having a nightmare." The Earl commented, disregarding the questions entirely, and Road didn't even bring it up or ask him again, she simply stared down at the white haired boy.

"When I was bringing him here, he wouldn't stop shaking, and struggling so I put him to sleep to help him. It seems I was wrong to do that."

Allen's nose flared and he turned from side to side, and moaned, and the Earl huffed. "It simply won't do for him to live in terror. Won't do at all!" The Earl sang, rising his finger to empathize. "So I think I'll erase his memories of this night." He declared simply, and Road tore her eyes away from Allen to look at the Earl once more.

"Oh? What happened?" She asked curiously as she held on to the Earl's coat.

Millennium looked at her briefly, his glasses glinting from the lights emanating from the candles. "I turned his father into an Akuma, which he killed with his innocence." He stated, without an ounce of amusement in his voice. "And I simply can't have him hating me for it." That just won't do." He declared.

Without thinking it further, Millennium grasped Allen's sweat covered head and held it in place, and closed his eyes. Allen continued to squirm on the spot, but he didn't open his eyes. Whatever the Earl did to put him to sleep must have been quite strong to keep someone from waking from such a nightmare.

Allen continued to struggle, and Road out of impulse grasped his clenched hand which he tried to get out with a strength a boy his age shouldn't have. Road kept holding on until seemingly out of nowhere Allen just stopped. The white haired boy gave out an almost peaceful sigh, and slumped down on the mattress, sweat dripped down his forehead. Road sighed as well, and made to look at the Earl but just as her head turned she noticed one lonely tear falling down Allen's cheek, which she was tempted to wipe, feeling sorry for him.

It was wrong to erase someone's memories, especially if they were precious ones. Memories is what made up a person, what determined who a person was, and she supposed that in that sense both humans and Noahs were alike. To her, her memories are precious, even the painful ones she often wished she could rid of. They made her into what she is, and the Noah she will come to be in the future, so to see that Allen's memories were being erased –even though she knew very little about this Allen- it didn't sit well with her. But it wasn't like she could complain either. Every decision made by the Earl was absolute, and all she could do was stand and watch and help if he needed it.

"That's it, now he won't have any recollections of this night or his father." The Earl giggled, and Road felt her stomach drop, but she didn't say anything, she simply stood and watched while humming a tune faking indifference of the situation.

"And, now I think we should go straight to the main event!" The Earl exclaimed, and slowly placed a hand on top of Allen's heart, and Road took in a sharp breath.

The room fell silent, even the sound of Road breathing was gone as she held her breath in anticipation. She didn't know what would happen if Allen awoke as a Noah, or if **HE** would return and destroy everything they worked hard on once more. She found that in the heat of anticipation and excitement of having another family member, she was completely disregarding the warning signs… that is until a voice of reason whispered to her and Road snapped her head up to look at the Earl.

"You told Tyki you didn't know who he was, but you know exactly who he is right Millennie?" she asked, and Millennium turned away from Allen and looked down at her, his hand still on Allen's heart.

Both of them stared at each other in silence, and Road didn't even need the Earl to tell her what he was thinking. She already knew.

"Allen is Nea's host, and if you awaken Allen's Noah genes then it's possible that he'll return. Are you willing to take that chance?" She asked breaking the silence. All amusement gone from her voice, and a sterner one took its place.

Another moment of silence. Millennium lowered his head slightly and his glasses glinted, and moved his head so she could see straight into his eyes as he spoke. "I have to bring him home again Road, and besides. If he is indeed the same Nea who betrayed us all, then I will personally dispose of him" He declared with a hint of menace in his voice

Road opened her mouth to say something, but he suddenly chuckled and ruffled her hair with his other hand and with that turned to look at Allen.

Road sighed, and crossed her arms as she too glanced at the sleeping form of Allen. There were hundreds of thoughts crossing her mind as she waited. Hundreds of things she wanted to say to the Earl and thousands of things she wanted to say to Nea if he did indeed return. But above all, she wanted to ask Nea why…

Her thoughts were cut short as Millennium pressed his hand closer to Allen's heart, and darkness began to seep out of the Earl's hand. Instantly Allen -who had been laying peacefully on the bed- began to stir once more, and furrowed his brows in pain but never made a sound. A bead of sweat fell down his brows, and Allen's cheek began to get redder and redder. Road grimaced as she looked at him struggle. She knew he was in excruciating pain, every Noah knew how painful the change from human to Noah was, and she could only imagine how much more painful it would be for the host of a Noah as powerful as Nea. In fact it was a miracle Allen was still asleep so soundly, and that he hadn't even said a word. However, just as she thought that, she wanted to take it back.

Suddenly Allen opened his mouth and let out a gut wrenching scream that resonated through the room. Allen rolled from side to side, and flung his arms around, trying to struggle out of the Earl's grip who only leaned down further down on the mattress, putting more pressure. Allen's eyes fluttered, almost as if they would open but they remained tightly shut as he scrunched up his face in pain, and tears fell down his cheek.

"No need to cry. It'll all be over soon." Millennium sang, as Allen continued to struggle. The Earl huffed and more dark tendrils emanated from his palm and seeped into Allen, causing him to convulse on the spot and let out another gut wrenching scream. Suddenly the candles on the walls went out one by one, until one remained casting the room in darkness. Road's eye widened and looked at Allen terrified, as she began to feel the familiar and terrifying killing intent that seemed to choke the very air in the room, and she couldn't help but shake on the spot.

The last candle flickered, attempting to stay alive until suddenly a draft caused it to go out, and that is when Allen stopped screaming and struggling. The killing intent flowed from Allen with a vengeance, causing Road to take a step back in fear, until suddenly it disappeared.

Road took a deep breath, as she expected the worse, and yet she leaned forward, struggling to see Allen behind the Earl's huge figure. Road peeked from under the Earl's arms, and she could finally see him. Allen looked so serene, an exact contract to a few seconds ago, but there were more changes to him than that. His skin slowly went from a pinkish hue, to the ever familiar gray, and stigmata slowly revealed themselves on his forehead. His hair remained the same white hue, and the mark on his eye remained also, remained.

Road leaned forward even more until she was practically laying on top of Allen, and looked down at his face, until suddenly Allen's eyes flew open revealing bright, and piercing amber eyes that had slit pupils just like the Earl's were. For a few moments he simply stared at the ceiling emptily, until Road moved ever so slightly and his eyes quickly went to hers, finally meeting.

Time seemed to slow down, as Road tried to figure out if she was looking at Allen's or Nea's eyes. She just couldn't tell.

* * *

Author's note: Cliff hangers, yayyy! Anyways, I hope you guys like the way I'm writing Road, Tyki and the Earl cause let me tell you, they aren't easy characters to write! So I hope I'm on the right track with them, and if not just let me know.

Anyways, there were quite a few Nea references in this chapter, and I just want to make sure everyone understands that this will be a Nea heavy fic. Now he might or might not have a big centre role in the story –yet- but he'll be there often.

So anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and pleaser review.


	3. Chapter 3: The Noah of destruction

Chapter 3

The Noah of destruction

* * *

Tyki walked through the halls with his hands deep inside his pocket, and his cigarette still lit but halfway done. He had just come back from contacting the rest of his family one by one, and telling them to return at once. Naturally everyone was skeptical at first and some of them outright refused specially Devit and Jasdero who were apparently in the middle of something important which he didn't quite catch what it was due to the sound of screaming coming from their end. Another who was adamant of returning home with such little notice was Skinn, who he didn't know what he was doing but was apparently important enough that he had more or less growled harshly into Tyki's ear through the phone for disturbing him. However not everyone was as hostile towards the idea of returning. Lulu, and Feedler didn't even ask or question why they were being called back home, they simply told him they'd be here as soon as possible and hung up the phone. Tyki sometimes wished everyone was just as committed as Lulu and Feedler are because if they were he wouldn't have to go through the same explanation several times. The Earl has ordered them all to drop what they were doing and return home, was that too hard an order to follow? Apparently it was, until he told them that the Earl specifically ordered it, something he rarely did. Thankfully, after he told them that everyone changed their tone of voice and told him they'd be here as soon as possible.

Tyki sighed and pulled his cigarette out of his mouth, and puffed a long cloud of smoke. He loved his family, don't get him wrong but sometimes he wished they were much simpler to deal with, like Momo and Clark who were -although human- relatively simple beings who lead a simple existence. Wake up, eat, gamble, swindle people of their hard earned money, and sleep. Now that was a simple existence, unlike his family where he had to tread on a thin wire as he remembered who liked and dislikes who and who's doing what, and what everyone's up to while they aren't around, as well as listen to their long mission reports which he sometimes had to seat through simply because he himself didn't have a mission of his own at the moment. The most annoying of which was Lulu's who's mission reports tended to be extensive and intricate and could take up hours.

Tyki place this cigarette back inside his mouth and bit the foot of it softly with his teeth, as he took several puffs and released them through a small gap he made with his lips. Yes, he loved his family, and would never once even imagine what would happen, or what he would do if anyone of them got in harm's way, specially Road who he -as she said- has a soft spot for her.

Tyki huffed annoyed at the twerp. He had to like her she is after all his adoptive niece, and looking after her and being around her was inevitable; not that being around his fellow family members wasn't inevitable either, he just saw them less frequently than Road simply because she's his niece.

Tyki puffed out another cloud of smoke that covered his face. He often liked to tell himself the reason why he cared for Road was because she's his niece but he knew that was a lie, he knew he did indeed have a soft spot for her and that was because he saw her as a little sister he had to protect.

' _A little sister who keeps hiding information from Me.'_ he grumbled to himself as he took his finished cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it between his gloved fingers.

Tyki looked at the walls of the hallway annoyed. He knew the Earl and Road were keeping information from him, information that must be of great importance, information regarding the exorcist boy. He knew that the both of them were aware of who the boy is, and which Noah's host he is. He wasn't stupid. Naturally he deduced that the boy must be the host of the last member of their family, the occupant of the empty chair in the dining room. At least that was the simplest explanation.

' _But if that's the case then why are they making a mystery out of this whole thing? Why not just say so?'_ he thought to himself thoughtfully.

He honestly couldn't know the intentions of the Earl, much less Road's who was prone to making strange decisions, and whose thought process was all over the place ranging from someone with unfadable experience and wisdom, to a child no older than nine. That being said the Earl was the easier of the two to read. But of course he didn't honestly expect the Earl to give away, or confide all of his plans and secrets even though deep inside him he jealously believed he should. Or at least expected him to inform him something was wrong, not to treat him a like a child who wasn't ready to learn the truth.

Tyki huffed in annoyance.

"Alright there Tyki?" asked a musical male voice which made Tyki cringe.

Tyki turned his head already knowing who was standing behind him, and already dreading his presence. Sheril was making his way towards him with a large smile plastered on his lips. He wore his usual well-kept and expensive suit with a bow tie tied neatly on his neck. He wore his white gloves identical to his, and unlike him he had a monocle upon his right eye, which he liked to use to look more sophisticated even though he didn't need corrective eyeglasses. Tyki shook his head. His brother really was something.

"Sheril." He answered simply, turned around and kept walking while Sheril quickened his pace to walk beside him.

"Slow down there I'm not as young as I used to be." he cried out with drama as he rested himself on Tyki's shoulder as they walked, while Tyki's brows twitched in annoyance.

"You are as young as you used to be, we don't age quite as quickly as humans remember."

Sheril taped his index finger on his own lips and gave Tyki a thoughtful look. "Perhaps, but that still doesn't mean I don't get tired. You know, not all of us are as athletically inclined as you little brother." he sang and swayed on Tyki's shoulder.

Tyki took in a deep breath and tried to compose himself before he punched his brother in the face. Ironically out of all the Noahs Sheril was the one he couldn't stand the most, even though he is actually his brother.

"Maybe if you stopped lazing about in conferences with humans and actually went out in the field to look for innocence, you might not be so out of shape."

Sheril squealed in indignation, and pushed himself off of Tyki as if he had burned him.

"You take that back! I am not out of shape!" He screeched indignantly, and Tyki couldn't help but grin a little and opened his mouth to prove his point further until he was interrupted.

"Yo, cool guy!" somebody shouted from behind them, and once more Tyki tense. He knew exactly who that was just by hearing the obnoxious voice from miles away.

Tyki and Sheril stopped mid step and both turned around to look at Devit and Jasdero. Much like Sheril, the twins looked and wore their usual attires, but unlike Sheril Tyki could see splashes of blood on their clothes. Clearly the twins had been busy with something, and seeing by their haste they didn't even have time to get changed or get cleaned up.

The twins made their way towards them with a swagger on their step, and unlike Sheril it didn't take them long to catch up to them.

"Mind telling us why we're here?" asked Devit as they all walked down the hall together. "Yea." Agreed Jasdero nodding his head.

"You know you didn't give us much of an explanation, just that Millennium sama needs to see us all, and to come as quickly as possible. You know our time is precious too, you know." Devit huffed, and Sheril looked down at him in annoyance and scoffed.

Tyki looked at Sheril with amusement. It was no secret that Sheril disliked the twins due to their polar opposite ways to his. They were immature and Sheril thought himself mature and responsible. They were cocky, and mischievous while Sheril was snobbish towards strangers, and charismatic. In fact the very way they dressed and carried themselves was different to one another. While Sheril dressed in his pristine and spotless suit they dressed in their strange dirty attire and wore heavy makeup. They couldn't be anymore opposite to each other.

Devit and Jasdero looked up at Sheril with contempt. "Scoffing at us are you? Well we may not be big shot ministers but at least we don't dress like giant penguins!" Devit mocked and Jasdero nodded and laughed alongside his brother, and Tyki couldn't help but chuckle a little, even though they technically made fun of him too.

"Excuse me?" asked Sheril repulsed by what they said and Tyki couldn't help but smile, which he tried to hide by leaning his hat down.

"I have you know-"

"Yea sure whatever you say old man." Interrupted Jasdero and Sheril redden like a beet, to which Tyki couldn't help but chuckle receiving a glare from Sheril.

"You listen to me well you-"

Sheril stopped suddenly before he could say anything, they all stopped, all four of them stood frozen on the spot unable to move.

Tyki felt it, they all felt it, a strange cold air that seemed to chill them to the bone accompanied by a back curling feeling, but most disturbing of all was the pungent and frightening killing intent that flowed through all of them. A killing intent that didn't belong to any of them.

Tyki felt his Noah memories stir angrily, as if trying to break free of its cage. Tyki didn't often allow his Noah memories to surface, seeing as he didn't want them to overpower him and consume who he was. And so he kept his memories tightly caged inside of him, and was always in control of them, but this time he felt like a small gap had been pride opened. Emotions that were not his own overflowed into him instantly, overpowering everything he was feeling with its intensity, and Tyki's eyes widen in response. He felt anger, utter anger so strong that Tyki had to curl his hands into fists in order to stop himself from destroying anything.

The strange feeling remained for what felt like minutes, until suddenly it banished and that was when everyone took in a large gulp of air, not realizing that they had been holding their breath.

' _What was that?'_ he asked himself, looking down at his opened hand which was getting more and more blurry.

Tyki furrowed his brows. His inner Noah was stirring dangerously inside him. Tyki took a deep breath and composed himself again. Whatever that was it had been strong enough to not only unleash his memories but also, shaken him enough to give his memories a chance to take control of him. Tyki took another deep breath and his sight sharpened.

"What the hell was that?!" asked Devit clearly as shaken as they all no doubt were.

Tyki still looking at his gloved hand, closed his hand and looked at Sheril who was looking at him worried. Sheril knew how much he struggled with his inner Noah, they all did to some degree seeing as no one wanted their Noah to consume them but for him it was harder, seeing as he kept both his black and white side separated and therefore unbalanced as Millennium had often told him. This loss of control was usually a cause for concern but at this very moment that mattered very little, what mattered was finding out what the hell was going on.

"I have no idea, but I can make a guess and say that whatever that was, it has to do with what lord Millennium has asked to see us for." Tyki suggested looking at them.

Devit and Jasdero looked at him a bit confused, but miraculously didn't ask anything and simply nodded their heads in acceptance of his words, while Sheril was still looking at him with worry. Tyki gave his brother one last aside glance, and didn't give him a chance to keep worrying or ask him anything as he simply turned and made his way to the dining hall, while Sheri, Devit and Jasdero followed.

As they walked he already suspected what that strange feeling came from. The boy must have awoken as a Noah, it was the only explanation. However, it still made no sense. Never in his life had he felt such strong emotions, or such frightening killing intent from anybody, and that came from him who wasn't beyond torturing for the fun of it. No, this killing intent was much more powerful than his ever was, and what's more it was enough to frighten him to the core as well as the Noah inside him.

Tyki clenched his teeth ever so slightly so that Sheril couldn't see how shaken up he was at what was going on.

' _Damn it Road.'_ He cursed to himself.

Whatever was happening he could count on it that Road was probably in the middle of it as well as the Earl, and by how frightening that awakening was, Tyki only hoped they were ok.

The group continued to walk silently until they reached a large double doors, which Tyki swiftly opened it without hesitation. The doors creaked open, spilling light into the dark room that only had a few candles around the walls. All four of them stepped inside the room instantly, coming face to face with the large mahogany table that had thirteen chair laid around its rectangle shape. Tyki's eyes roamed the chairs, seeing that all of them were empty except for Lulu Bell's and Feedler who were already present.

"Tyki, Sheril, Jasdevi. It's good to see you all." Lulu greeted as Tyki made his way to his chair which was situated on the left side of Millennium. Jasdero, Devit, and Sheril also made their way to their own seats.

"It's good to see you too Lulu, how are things going with your mission?" He asked politely, not showing any signs of how disturbed he was by the odd emotions he felt merely minutes ago. Instead he simply his folded his hands on top of the table.

"My missions is still at its infancy, but I think it should be no problem to execute." He answered taking a sip of her tea.

Tyki nodded and looked at Feedler who was busily drawing on his sketch pad, ignoring all of them. He didn't bother saying greeting him, knowing that he'd probably get more annoyed that he was disturbing him while he was drawing, than not greeting him.

"As one would expect from dear Lulu. Such a great strategic mind you hold. Tell me have you reconsidered my offer?" Asked Sheril. Tyki moved his gaze away from Feedler, and looked back at Lulu instead, who was giving Sheril a thoughtful look.

Lulu grabbed her cup of tea gently and took a small sip, only then did she answered back. "Sheril, I work for lord Millennium and my skills will always be at his dispose. I can't possibly work with the humans." She answered politely.

Tyki turned to look at Sheril and saw how his smile slowly fell and was now looking at Lulu with a pout. "That's too bad, I really could use your help in my field of work, but no matter. Millennium's sama's missions are far more important than anything else." He conceded with a smile and Lulu nodded but didn't say anything else.

The six of them remained in silence as they waited for the rest. Devit and Jasdero unable to stay still for more than a minute simply took an orange from the table and started to throwing it back and forth, laughing every now and again and Sheril glaring at them.

In no time at all other members of their family arrived, starting with Mercym, then Tryde who sat across him, followed by Mightra, then finally Skinn who growled under his breath in displeasure as he took his seat with a little bit more force than necessary.

All ten sat around the table, but three of them were still missing. The Earl of course, as well as Road, and finally the last Noah yet to join their ranks; the Noah of wisdom which Tyki felt wasn't with them yet despite a Noah awakening.

"Well, were all mostly here, mind telling us what's going on Tyki?" Asked Skinn annoyed, as he chewed on a piece of candy.

Tyki took a hold of his hat and proceeded to take it off slowly then placed it on the table in front of him. It was bad manners to eat with a hat on after all.

"I'm sorry Skinn, but I'm just as clueless as you are. Until Lord Millennium arrives, I'm afraid we won't know what's this all about." He answered simply and Skinn huffed annoyed but didn't say anything and simply kept chewing his candy.

From the other side of the table Mercym cleared his throat and placed his hands on the table much like Tyki, and everyone looked at him now. "It's obvious isn't it? A member of our family has awoken. It's impossible that any of you have missed it, as I'm sure you all felt it." He declared.

Of course they all knew a Noah had awoken, but that still didn't explain anything. Every time a Noah awoke Millennium didn't make such a fuss about it as he was now, and they all definitely didn't feel the odd emotions either. Of course Millennium had held a dinner in the honour of said awoken Noah, but he definitely did not stop all missions and called them all home right away. Tyki frowned. This whole situation was strange.

"Yes, however I think there's more to it than that." Answered Lulu.

As if on cue, the doors to the dining hall flew open. All 10 of them turned their heads to look at the Earl who was standing by the door with Road flanking him, who smiled at all of them but Tyki could tell her smile hadn't been genuine.

' _What are you hiding?'_ Tyki asked himself as his eyes followed Road who took her seat beside him, and looked at him with a bright smile on her face.

They all sat around the large rectangle table in silence as all eleven apostles waited for the Millennium earl to tell them the reason for this meeting. Even Devit and Jasdero sat still as they waited not making a sound.

The Earl chuckled breaking the silence, and spread his arms out in welcome. "Good evening to you all, I'm glad everyone's been able to attend despite the short notice." The earl looked at Tyki, and tilted his head.

"Thank you Tyki for making this possible." He thanked, and Tyki smiled and bowed his head but didn't say anything. There were more important matters to discuss.

On the other side of the table Devit gave out an annoyed huff, causing all of them to change their attention to him. "Why are we here Earl sama?" Devit whined, leaning back on his chair while tilting the chair back dangerously on its hind legs as his feet rested on the table.

"We were in the middle of killing some fine people." he complained, leaning further back on the chair until his feet were completely outstretched and the chair came a hair away from stumbling back.

"Yea, yea!" Jasdero agreed, shaking his head up and down in quick motion.

Tyki shock his head in amusement. He always found it amusing how the twin's priorities were always set on whatever brought them the most fun. That being said seating around a table on a meeting was not at all their definition of fun. However, Sheril on the other hand, well…

"And I was in the middle of a meeting… not that I'm complaining my lord Millennium, this meeting are much more important." he added hastily at the end, but by his tone he wasn't too pleased to be taken out of his job without notice.

Millennium gave out a low chuckle, gaining everyone's attention once more. "Not at all Sheril, I sent all of you on independent missions of your own, and I suspect you must be busy with them." he looked pointedly at Tryde, Sheril, Feedler, and Lulu as he spoke.

"And for those without missions, well what you do with your free time is your choice but I don't think it's nice to have to come here without warning." he said looking at Tyki, Devit, Jasdero, Mercym, and Skinn.

Millennium leaned back on his chair, and looked at all of them. "However, I can't say it isn't nice that were all gathered here… well almost all of us." he said sadly as he looked at the empty seat that was reserved for the missing Noah who hasn't yet reincarnated.

"Now, as much as I liked to wave away responsibilities, and get straight into eating dinner, there is something I need to tell you. Something I suspect you all must have felt."

The room seemed to freeze with tension as they all looked pointedly at the Ear. All of them waiting for Millennium to finally give them an answer to what that strange feeling was… well all except one, who interrupted the Earl just as he opened his mouth.

"Yea, what is up with that? We were about to kill some idiot officers who got in the way of our fun, when we felt something odd, and we would have continued but you know w-"

"Will you let Millennium speak?" Skin barked banging his fists against the table causing the cutlery to bounce and rattle, some of them falling on the ground and breaking into little pieces.

Skinn continued to growl deeply and glare at Devit who was not at all fazed by the larger Noah, but instead smiled at him.

"Is it necessary to destroy the fine china? Or can't you just stop your brutish urges?" he teased and Jasdero gave out a loud barking laugh. Skinn growled grew louder until suddenly he grabbed a knife from the table and threw it at Devit, who dodged before it could hit him.

Jasdero and Devit looked back at the wall where the knife was perfectly embedded halfway into the wall and grinned at each other, only to look back at Skinn. "Is that all you got?" yelled back Jasdero, and Skinn growled once more and grabbed the large plate filled with food.

Tyki sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Even when faced with important matters, Skinn and the twin's simply couldn't put their differences aside for five seconds. A fight always had to break out.

All of them looked on unamused as Skinn brought the plate back in order to throw it with as much force as possible, but before he threw it and cause a fight between the three of them the Earl spoke up.

"Now, now let's calm down, both of you can kill each other after we're done our meeting." he reprimanded, as if he was speaking to children. Jasdero, Devit and Skinn looked at each other for a brief second and huffed. The three of them slumped back on their chairs, Devit getting back on the same position as before.

"Alright then, where was I? Oh yes, the odd sensation you were all feeling." he put his hands together, and looked at them pensively.

"As you know there are thirteen of us in our family, twelve apostles and one me!" he said cheerfully, and Road chuckled.

"At the current moment were just missing one of the original thirteen apostles. Wiseley still hasn't reincarnated, and until he comes back you'll all feel like there's something missing as I'm sure you know." he declared, and a few of them nodded, Tyki being one of them.

He definitely knew what that feeling was. It was almost like a nagging voice at the back of his head that dulled and became silent at times, only to come back at a vengeance. It was almost like a voice telling him that something was missing, as if something wasn't right, and that was simply because a member of their family was still missing. Curious Tyki looked inside himself once more and looked for that nagging feeling. He found it was still there despite the awakening of a Noah, which was odd.

Tyki frowned. Weren't there thirteen of them, as Millennium said?

' _What's going on?'_ He asked himself worried.

The Earl continued, and Tyki looked at him once more. "It's in our nature to want to be together as a family, even if some of us don't get along with others." he said looking at Jasdero, Devit and Skinn. On cue Devit poked out his tongue at Skinn who bent the knife he was holding while glaring holes at Devit.

"That being said, none of us would ever harm much less kill a member of our family no matter how some may dislike each other. It is not in our nature to fatally harm another Noah, doing so would feel like harming oneself, so no Noah would ever do such a thing, which is why we have managed to prosper as a family for 7000 years."

Tyki's eyes looked around the table, noticing how a few of them smiled and nodded as they agreed even Skinn, who grudgingly still glared at Devit and Jasdero.

"However." The Earl said suddenly and a Tyki's eyes snapped back to him. "This was not always the case." He said gravelly, and the whole room fell silent. Once more the cold, tense feeling returned. Even Skinn and Devit stopped glaring at each other and looked confused at the Earl.

The Earl leaned forward on his spot, and looked at each and every one of them before continuing. "There was a moment, just one moment in history, where one Noah turned against the others, and killed them all. One Noah, whom all of you have forgotten."

Everyone was silent and the tension intensified in the room, even the Earl -though he had his usual smile plastered on his lips- looked at everyone with s serious expression, without even a hint of amusement.

Tyki fought the urge to shudder. Very rarely had he ever seen the Earl so serious, or worried. The Earl was their leader, and is the strongest of them all so if something worried him then it should worry all of them. And that was without mentioning the fact that a Noah had broken their most sacred law, killing one of them. Tyki couldn't even fathom, or imagine how someone could hurt one of them, and even worse how he could forget such a person.

Tyki subconsciously clenched his hands into fists, and noticed that Tryde -who sat opposite to him- also, looked worriedly at the Earl.

Once more the Earl continued, with an even serious voice. "That Noah was the 14th, the only none original member of our family, and the only one to defy our clan. You see, 35 years ago the 14th for unknown reasons went on a killing rampage, killing each and every one of you one by one, single headedly."

Everyone tensed, not even the sound of breathing could be heard as they all processed what was said. Tyki felt his Noah memories flare furiously as flashes of emotions overcame him. Anger, sadness, unbelievable hate, betrayal, hurt, pain but most powerful of all- fear. He didn't know exactly who the 14th was, but he could feel through his Noah memories that whoever this Noah was, he had indeed done the unforgivable...harmed their family.

Tyki's hand tightened. This was the first time he heard of such a Noah, in fact he had never seen any evidence that another Noah apart from the original thirteen actually existed.

' _Or you simply never paid enough attention to notice.'_ A familiar yet dark voice said in his head.

Tyki's eyes widened a little. Could it be true? That he never paid enough attention to see the evidence? Tyki's eyes roamed the table until they landed on the empty chair reserved for their missing brethren, the Noah of wisdom. Tyki's moved his eyes away from the empty chair to roam the table once more, he looked at every one of his family members who were just as flabbergasted as him. His eyes kept roaming, until he reached a spot he never really paid any attention to, and that was the other end of the table the opposite to the Earl. Said spot was devoid of a chair, yet something told Tyki that wasn't always so.

Tyki glared at the spot feeling his inner Noah steering until out of nowhere he saw a flash of a memory that only remained for a brief second. A chair, with the silhouette of a man sitting upon it and smiling wickedly at him. Tyki gasped, and felt as if something had crawled up his spine. He blinked harshly and when he reopened his eyes the man wasn't there anymore just an empty spot.

"Why are you reminding us of this?" asked Mercym breaking the silence, and sounding slightly angered that his memories have been forced to resurface.

Everyone turned their heads back at the Earl, who was emanating a sorrowful feeling. "Because the 14th has returned to us. After 35 years he has been reincarnated and he's here right now."

Everything fell silent, more than ever before. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of hearts pounding, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. The room was completely silent, but that didn't last for very long.

Suddenly, Devit's chair fell back, his arms flailing about as he tried to regain balance and stop himself from falling back. The sound of wood crashing on the marble stone resonated through the whole room snapping everyone out of their shook. And that was when pandemonium broke out.

"What'd you mean he's back?" Devit practically shouted from the floor.

"No, not possible he can't be back." Sheril growled, sounding angrier than Tyki had ever heard him before.

"What are his intentions? He maybe an ally now?" Lulu said thoughtfully.

Feedler shook his head harshly and Tyki noticed he looked more frightened than he had ever seen him. "As if he'd be an ally. The 14th is scary, we shouldn't even be talking about him. He may hear us." Feedler muttered as he covered his ears in fear.

From under the table Devit scoffed, and poked his head from under the table and placed his chin on it. "Let'm hear, I'll make sure to kick his ass this time!" He barked angrily.

On cue everyone began to argue amongst themselves, and the once previously silent room was filled with shouts and growls coming from all the angry Noah causing the Akuma outside the room to shiver in fear.

The shouting continued, until the Earl's voice boomed, silencing everyone. "Everyone calm down. Nobody is kicking anyone's ass! Allen Walker -the host of the 14th- is but a mere boy, and the memories of the 14th have not overcome him, so he isn't a-"

"And how do we know that? He maybe a mere boy, but he's still the 14th and the most powerful of us all. How can we stop him if the 14th does indeed come back?" Tyki interrupted the Earl for the first time ever, causing everyone to turn to look at him in shook.

Even Tyki himself was shocked he had interrupted the Earl. He didn't understand what compelled him, but the Noah inside of him was steering dangerously causing his vision to blur ever so slightly.

Devit scoffed, and sat back on his chair. "The most powerful don't make-"

Tyki jerked his head back to look at Devit, and glared at him causing him to shut his mouth. Tyki felt his vision blurring further.

"Don't underestimate him. We did that before and that is exactly what got us in this mess. The 14th was powerful enough to kill us all one by one, do you really think he won't be able to do the same now?" He asked angrily not sounding at all like himself. His hands clenched to the point where he thought he might snap his fingers in two.

"Then do you suggest we kill him? One of our own brethren? He may have killed us all in the past, but we cannot lower ourselves to his level." Lulu declared, and Tyki looked back at her and opened his mouth to argue, only to be beat by Sheril.

"So you suggest we just lay back and let him kill us all? Unfortunately I'm not too keen on that. I say we take revenge on him." Sheril growled, and Tyki, Devit, Jasdero, and Skinn nodded in agreement. However Feedler, and Mercym didn't look at all pleased as they glared at Sheril as if he'd gone insane.

"And kill one of our own? It seems that working with humans has damaged your head Sheril." Mercym barked.

Tyki tensed, and glared holes at Mercym. He may dislike his brother, but that didn't mean he'd let anybody talk to him that way.

"And lazing about has yours." He shoot back at Mercym.

Mercym shoot to his feet and so did Tyki as they glared at each other. Everyone else began to argue among each other once more until the Earl spoke up again shutting everyone up.

"As much as I appreciate everyone's opinion. It is up to me and Tryde to decide the 14th fate." He declare looking at Mercym and Tyki, who slowly sat back on their chair but only after glaring at each other once more.

Once everyone quieted, the earl huffed and looked at Tryde. "So what say you Tryde? The Noah of judgement? There has been a betrayal in our family, one that cannot go unpunished. How should the 14th pay for his misdeeds?"

Tryde looked at the Earl. His face was devoid of any emotion, unlike everyone, and unlike anyone else he had not spoken up at all.

Try placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. "Ultimately the decision is yours Lord Millennium, however if you want my judgement then I say we let him live." he suggested and everyone quickly opened their mouths to argue but before they could say anything Tryde spoke up again.

"As much as we may dislike it the 14th, he is without doubt a member of our family so we cannot harm him. However, his past deeds cannot go unpunished either." He stated, as he looked at all of them.

"Unfortunately though the 14th hasn't manifested in the child's body much like the Noah of pleasure hasn't with Tyki." Tryde glanced at him and Tyki grumbled in displeasure. "So handing out punishment to the wrong person is unthinkable, but we can't simply let the child join us like nothing happened, so I propose testing him. We test his willingness as a Noah, and as a member of our family and if he meets our standards, we'll consider him one of our own for as long as he remains as his human personality. However, as soon as he shows signs of being the 14th we shall decide his judgement." Tryde declared.

Everyone fell silent once more, and as Tyki looked around he saw that Sheril opened then closed his mouth immediately. Tyki's gaze fell back to Mercym who much like Sheril looked like he wanted to say something but didn't. Tyki looked at everyone and saw that everyone else was more or less the same, until Tyki's eyes landed on Road. She looked deep in thought, and as if her mind was already going through countless of different calculations at the same time. Of course he knew Road knew more than anyone else present, and something told him she even knew the 14th

"Good idea Tryde! Of course it never crossed my mind to kill the 14th even though he betrayed us. Family is family, and to us that's something that cannot be broken." He said to all of them, and Sheril looked a bit ashamed that he suggested to kill the 14th. Tyki however, stood by his choice. The 14th is dangerous, he didn't know exactly who he was or his powers but if he managed to kill them all singlehandedly then he definitely posed a threat to them all.

The Earl leaned forward on his seat, and his gloomy expression disappeared and instead his joyful and amused self-returned. "Now then, if Allen is to live with us and become one of us I need someone to help him out." He declared.

Road's hand shoot up instantly, practically causing her to fall face first on the table. "Me, me, me I'll help Allen."

The Earl looked around as if he hadn't seen Road, purposely ignoring which was strange of him. The Earl never ignored Road.

Millennium eyes continued to roam the table until his eyes landed on Tyki who was acting indifferent and not paying much attention.

"Tyki, will you help Allen?" He asked.

Tyki practically chocked on air as he snapped his head forward so fast that it gave him whiplash. "What?" Both Tyki and Road asked in unison.

"Help Allen." The Earl simply, but Tyki still couldn't understand.

Help the exorcist turned Noah? Help the 14th, potentially the most dangerous Noah? Help a snot nose boy? Tyki almost subconsciously shook his head, but stopped himself before he could do so. He wanted to say no of course, he wasn't too keen on being around the 14th much less help him no matter how much the Earl assured him that the boy does not have the 14th memories. He didn't trust the boy, or anything he couldn't fully understand or control, it made him uneasy.

Tyki opened his mouth to tell the Earl he would not, but then shut it. ' _You can't very well refuse the Earl, even though it isn't an order.'_ He told himself.

Tyki clenched his teeth, and took a deep breath. This was going to come back to bite him someday.

Tyki smiled charmingly at the Earl, and bowed his head. "Of course my Lord Millennium."

The Earl nodded. "Very good, then you'll watch him, show him around, and if you see anything odd you'll come to me straight away." Millennium ordered, and Tyki simply nodded as confidently as ever, but deep inside he wasn't at all confident.

' _What have I gotten myself into?'_ He asked himself worried.

Beside him Road chuckled, and Tyki looked back at her. Road had a side smile plastered on her lips, and gave him a knowing look.

What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

So a bit of a long chapter, though it was meant to be even longer but i decided to cut the chapter in half.

So yea, the Noah family has taken centre stage and Allen is still on the side lines but don't worry he's the main character after all so he'll be in the middle of everything in no time.

So next chapter you'll get to see what happened after chapter two, between Allen, the Earl and Road, and if the 14th had indeed awoken or not.


	4. Chapter 4: Memories

Chapter 4

Memories

* * *

Amber slit eyes, and amber eyes with several irises continued to look into each other, neither one looking away or wavering. Everything was deadly silent, not even the sound of a draft of air, or creaks could be heard. Tension overpowered the room yet neither gaze looked away from the other, nor did they waver.

Both set of eyes simply continued to look into each other for what felt like hours but were merely minutes, until suddenly the slitted eyes closed for a brief moment and then reopened to reveal that the slit's on its pupils were no longer as pronounced as before. Once more, the slitted eyes closed and this time they looked away.

Allen groaned, and slumped his head back on the old pillow, creating a cloud of dust that quickly rose and surrounded his head, which he paid little attention to.

His chest was rising, and falling rapidly, as he struggled to get sufficient air into his lungs. Allen took in large gulps of air but no matter how many large gulps of air he took in he couldn't seem to catch his breath. To make matter worse his throat burned, and felt raspy as if he had just ran for hours without stopping once to regulate his breathing. Unfortunately for him, his throat wasn't the only part of his body that hurt. Every single one of his muscles and bones ached, and he had a monstrous headache to boot.

Allen let out a groan that hurt his throat even more, and placed his hand on his forehead as if it would relieve the pain, but really it didn't do anything more than lessen the pounding by a little.

What on earth had he'd been doing, for him to feel this way? He didn't actually recall doing anything extraneous, in fact he couldn't remember anything. Allen frowned under his hand.

That was odd, he never once forgot anything so easily, and much less something that was probably important.

Allen continued to look at the palm of his hand as if it would provide him with clues, and though he felt that there was one glaringly larger clue in front of him he couldn't quite piece it together. Allen continued to stare at the plan of his hand until he at last remembered that he had been at a graveyard because…

Allen clenched his hand, he couldn't remember why he had been at the graveyard. What would compose him to go to such a place? He looked deep inside his memories for the answer but came up blank. He honestly didn't know the reason, and oddly enough he felt like there was something missing… as if there was something incredibly important he was supposed to remember.

"Finally awake I see!" a male singsong voice chuckled.

Allen quickly lowered his arms, and sprang up to sit up on the dusty bed. His movement were fast, faster than he'd ever been before, and with his headache, and not being used to it, he got a horrible whiplash.

Allen, groaned and grasped his head between both hands to stabilize himself, seeing as everything was spinning.

"Slow down." another singsong voice reprimanded, but this one was female.

Allen didn't pay the voice too much attention, and kept holding on to his head, and waited for everything to stop spinning around him. He felt like he was going to be sick and lose his last meal, but thankful before that could happen, everything slowed down and stopped spinning.

He slowly put his hands down, and was finally able to see what was around him, and he was instantly awed.

He was in a room that was almost pitch black, but strangely enough he could see just as well had there been candles lining the walls. Allen's eyes drifted around the room, and was shocked to see that it wasn't the usual inn he stayed at, or the circus. This was an elegant albeit dusty room that probably belonged to a member of the high end society. Every piece of furniture was skillfully made, and gave of an air of elegance. The paintings on the walls were probably so expensive, that Allen knew he wouldn't ever be able to afford one, even if he worked all his life and saved all his money. The fireplace by the right side of the room looked to be made of a high quality marble and wood that was decorated by floral designs, and beside it stood an armchair that was probably made of the highest quality of leather. Allen's eyes continues to look around the room, until he saw a beautiful grand piano on the corner, and strongly enough he suddenly felt a pang of recognition, almost as if he had seen that piano somewhere before, even though he knew he had never seen it in his life.

Allen felt a bead of sweat slide down his forehead. Where on earth was he, and how did he get here?

A male voice chuckled, and Allen finally became aware of the two other people in the room. His eyes snapped forward, and he came eye to eye with something… well not human by the looks of it. The man -at least he thought he was a man- wore a bright yellow coat, and a ridiculous top hat upon his head. His head looked demonic, yet amusing due to the large grin plastered on his face which made it look amusing, and the piercing eyes that seemed to look into his very soul which gave it a demonic look.

The creature's appearance was definitely strange, but even stranger was that Allen recognized him, and yet he couldn't place exactly where he recognized him from.

Allen stared at the man in confusion. If he had indeed met him in the past, then he was sure he would remember such a unique face. Also, he felt like he should be afraid of such a person, but he wasn't, quite the opposite in fact. Not only did he feel like he knew who this was, but he felt a deep kindred for him, as well as a darker emotion he couldn't quite place, and that confused him more than anything, as well as scare him.

"Finally awake, sleepy head?" Asked the man with the same singsong voice as before.

Allen simply stared at the demonic being, not saying anything for he didn't know what to say.

"I think he's still asleep Mellennie, maybe he needs help waking up." A girlish voice mused, and Allen jerked his head towards the source of the sound.

His eyes met a set of amused amber eyes with several irises that looked oddly familiar, just as the demonic being did.

Allen's eyes remained stuck to her's for a little while, then pulled back and looked at the girl that was seating on the other side of the bed. The girl had unnatural spiky purple-blue hair, and wore a black gothic dress. Her face was round, and soft looking, resembling the porcelain dolls rich girls cried at their parents to buy them when they passed in front of a shop. Her skin colour was a strange dark hue, that appeared gray and unlike anything he had ever seen before. Overall, she looked quite strange and almost unnatural like the strange clown, and the weird marks on her forehead weren't helping the matter.

"Good Idea Road!" cried out the clown, and before Allen could look back at him a loud clashing sound emanate from where the clown sat, causing his ears to ring, and for him to fall back and on the bed.

A giggle came from the girl, as well as a lower chuckle from the clown annoying Allen.

"Wha' 'he 'ell!" He growled in anger, as he sat up on the bed and glared at the clown who was holding a pair of cymbal and the strange girl who didn't take his anger seriously.

"Finally awake?" asked the girl with a mocking tone, and Allen gnashed his teeth.

He hated when anyone made fun of him, and much less some rich stuck up girl! He lived his entire life caring for himself, and fighting through life on his own, and that meant having to fight for the last morsel in the circus as well as having to take Cosimov beatings, and torment. So with all that, he'd be damned if he let some rich girl mock him!

Allen opened his mouth to begin his ranting, but before he could the clown beat him to it.

"Let's all calm down-"

"I'm no' calmin down! where 'he 'ell am i? wha''s 'his damn place? who are ya?" He asked with a bark that usually tended to annoy adults but seemed to have no effect on the weird clown or the girl.

"Where you are… well that's a complicated answer that I'll leave for later. As to who am I? I'm the Millennium Earl. It's very nice to meet you Allen Walker." He greeted amiably, offering his hand to him which Allen looked at skeptically.

"And I'm Road Kamelot." The girl added cheerfully but Allen barely looked at her, as he kept looking at the clown confused.

"What-"

"Were your family!" interrupted the clown before Allen could ask anything.

Allen's eyes widened, and his brows shut up, and the room fell silent.

Family? What the hell were these people talking about? They were not his family, he had no family period. He's an orphan, and an outcast. What kind of sick joke were these people playing at?

Allen's brows furrowed as he looked at the ever grinning face of the clown, who called himself the Millennium Earl. As he inspected his face, he noticed that he certainly didn't seem at all untruthful, but then again his face was frozen on a terrifying grin so what did he know?

Allen's eyes shifted to the girl beside the clown, and he inspected her for any deceit. Allen's eyes roamed her face, but like the clown he didn't find any signs of mockery, all he saw was a playful grin and piercing eyes.

Allen closed his eyes and huffed in annoyance. "Family? Family?" he repeated, getting angrier and angrier as he re-opened his eyes and looked at the clown straight in the eyes. "Listen ter me yew clown. I ain't got no family. So stop joking around an' 'ell me wha''s really goin on 'ere!" he barked.

For what felt like along minute, Allen and the Earl's eyes remained glued to each other, neither of them saying a word, until the girl who called herself Road broke the silence.

"Were not deceiving you Allen." She stated, and Allen's and the Earl's head snapped to the side to look at her instead. "We are your family, but it's a bit strange that your memories aren't telling you that." Puzzled Road, as she put her hand against her chin as if in deep thought.

Allen scoffed, and slid further away from them on the bed. "I've never mee' any ov you in my life!" he growled.

Road arched one brow, and gave him a thoughtful look. "No you have not, but tell me. What do you remember before coming here?"

Allen scoffed once more, and crossed his arms in defiance. "Why should i 'ell you any'hing?" he asked.

As he looked at the wall, he fully expected her to be annoyed by his lack of cooperation, and finally snapped. However, that was not the case.

Instead Road chuckled, and crawled closer to him. "You're even cutter when you're angry." She cooed, and Allen's ears turned pink, but he didn't look back at her.

"If you tell me what you remember before coming here, then maybe we'll be able to explain things to you." She claimed, and that picked his interest.

He knew she was right. She knew things he didn't, and she seemed to know how he ended up in this place, something he wanted to know.

Allen clenched his teeth in anger. He hated working with others, or cooperating with anyone because whenever he did he always ended up getting hurt somehow. However, there were times when he had to, like when he lived with the circus. He hated that place, and he hated everyone in it, but he couldn't say that they didn't help him by keeping him feed and relatively alive. Of course –despite his age- he knew that they only kept him alive because he was useful however, he also knew that when that usefulness expired they wouldn't think twice of kicking him out into the cold to fight for his own. So yes, there were times he knew he had to cooperate and accept the help of others.

Allen sighed, and turned his head to look at Road who was patiently waiting for him. "I was in some inn, down in london. I remember I was 'here 'o..."

Allen's furrowed in confusion and he looked down at his hands. What was he doing in London? How had he gotten to London? Allen looked deep inside his memories, but strangely enough he couldn't remember. He looked even deeper inside his memories but the more he looked the worse his headache got.

"It's ok if you don't remember." Road comforted, as she pat his shoulder. "So you were at an inn in London, you don't remember anything else?" she asked.

Allen looked up at her once more. Did he remember anything? As he looked in his memories he could see only vague flashes and images of places, and people, and of a faceless man with a top hat.

"Only li''le. Flashes 'ere an' 'here." He told her, and Road nodded, not appearing at all worried that he had blank spaces in his memories.

"That's to be expected."

Allen looked at her confused. "wha' do ya mean it's ter be expected? Is i' normal fer people ter lose their memories?"

He looked at Road completely serious, and scared of the answer. He was no scholar, so he honestly didn't know if it was indeed normal for people to lose memories, and maybe it was something he hadn't learn about. He'd never gone to school after all, so what did he know? However, he dearly hoped it wasn't a normal occurrence.

Road simply shook her head. "It isn't at all normal to lose ones memories. However, with what just happened to you, and what you went through it's not at all unheard off." She explained, and Allen looked at her eve more confused.

What on earth was she talking about? What had he gone through, what happened to him?

"Wot 'appened ter me?" He asked concerned.

"Well… that's for Millennie to explain." She replied, and looked back at the clown who sat on the edge of the bed looking at both of them.

"Allen." The clown mumbled as if afraid to distraught him further. "There is no easier way to do this but to explain everything to you, since your memories have not synced in. However, I ask that you remain silent until I finish. Can you do that?" he asked without one giggle in his sentence for the first time ever.

Allen looked from the clown to Road then back. He definitely didn't trust them, but what could a little information do?

' _explain 'his bloody si'ua'ion 'ha''s wha'!'_ he thought to himself.

Allen sighed, and nodded his answer, and the Earl continued.

"Wonderful! I'll explain everything then!" he exclaimed excitedly, but like before his voice adopted a more serious tone once more. "However, I need you to know that what I'm about to tell you may not seem real, and you may not believe a word I say, but know it's the truth." He declared, and the room became silent for a little while.

What could possibly be so strange, and unbelievable that the clown thought he wouldn't believe him?

Allen simply continued to stare into the Earl's slit eyes, and didn't say anything, and the Earl continued.

"After I'm done explaining you will understand everything, but if my word are not enough, look inside yourself and know that I say nothing but the truth." He encouraged, and Allen simply nodded. Not wanting to keep wasting time.

He wanted answers after all however, he did not once expect those answers to be so otherworldly.

And so time passed as the Earl patiently explained everything to him, from the 7000 year war between the clan known as Noah and the Black order, to the smallest detail. He explained what, and who Noahs were and how they sought to bring fourth the three days of darkness so that they may cleanse the world and take their revenge on the hateful god that cursed them all. He also, explained who and what exorcist were. A group of humans fighting on behalf of the same hateful god the Noah wanted to take their revenge on. He then explained how exorcists use shards of crystals know as innocence, created by the hateful god to destroy the Noahs and destroy everything they stood for. He then proceeded to explained how innocence were shards that manifested on selected humans, and gave them the means to fight against the Noahs, and the akumas. At that point he explained what Akumas were, which he explained as tools he created from human souls in order to fight by their side against the exorcists.

All of this he explained to him in an hour however, he didn't explain everything. He didn't tell him why the Noahs wanted to bring the three days of darkness, or why they wanted to take their revenge on god. He also, didn't explain why the innocence –the heart- fought against the Earl 7000 years ago, and what started the war in the first place. These were all unanswered questions and he wanted to ask, but he did promise he wouldn't interrupt so he didn't say anything. He may have no manners, but he always kept his word after all.

It was an hour later that the Earl finally shut his mouth for the last time, leaving the room in silence.

Both the Earl and Allen stared at each other, neither of them saying anything as Allen processing what he just hear.

Exorcist fighting Noahs? A great war the decimated the world? A hateful god that cursed the Noah clan for some reason? Akumas running rampant in the world following the orders of Noahs? The fact that Akumas were real and not just a legend the other clowns in the circus told him at night in order to scare him? Some shards known as innocence that were apparently evil, and sought to do the hateful god's biding? An innocence known as the heart that had unimaginable power, and which the Noahs sought to destroy before it could manifest in a human?

Allen's mouth fell open ever so slightly. It was all just so strange, and impossible that even he couldn't possibly believe the clown was saying the truth. Sure he wasn't very concerned on the news and boring adult stuff, but he'd know if a 7000 year old war was going on around him; everyone would know. And everyone would know if Akumas existed as well, so there was no way the clown was telling the truth.

"Tha' just-"

"Not possible?" asked Road, speaking for the first time after an hour.

Allen looked at her, as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a cocky smile. "You may think it isn't, any sane person would think so, but then again all those who are sane don't know anything about this war." She remarked.

"bu' 'ah can i' be 'he 'ru'h. 'ah can you 'ide a 7000 year old war from everyone. 'ah can any'hin you said be real? " he asked both amused by the absurdity of the situation, and shocked that they still stood firmly on what they said.

For the first time Road's smile fell and she looked at him almost coldly, which almost made him shudder.

Allen kept meeting her eyes expecting her to answer him, but instead it was the Earl who answered.

"Because were part of this war, we've been part of it for 7000 years." He answered simply, and Allen snapped his head back to him.

The Earl was no longer seating at the edge of the bed, and was now standing by the bed looming over them both. Allen didn't really know him, and he couldn't tell much regarding his emotions due to the grin plastered on his face, but for some reason he could tell that he's lost all sense of amusement, and that made him look more terrifying than anything he had ever seen before.

"'ah could you 'ave bin par' ov i' faw 7000 years? 'ah is 'ha' even possible?" he asked with a whisper.

"We aren't human, as I' sure you've already figured out. We are Noah." He declared, and the room fell to silence once more.

Allen looked at the Earl defiantly as he refused to believe anything they just said.

"prove i'" He said sounding like a taunt, believing full well the clown couldn't possibly prove it because he wasn't what he said he was. There was just no way Noahs existed. However, he soon found out he was wrong.

The Earl raised his head, causing his glasses to glint from the last flickering candle. He brought his hand up into the air, and opened his palm. From thin air, and almost as if manifesting from the shadows, a great long sword materialized on the palm of his hand.

Now, Allen had seen hundreds of magic tricks and he learned a few tricks himself, but he never once seen a trick so –for a lack of words- solid. There was just no way that had been faked, and at the same time there was just no way a sword literally materialized out of thin air!

"'ah did you do 'ha'?" he asked in shocked and awe.

The Earl brought the sword down with ease, as if it didn't weight anything and rested the tip of it on the floor. "I told you, were Noahs. I am the Millennium Earl, and I alongside twelve other disciples have fought against the innocence for 7000 years. One of said disciples is Road, and now you too have awoken as a disciple." He declared.

For the first time ever Allen's mouth fell open. Did he hear right? Did he just say he himself is a Noah? One of the twelve disciples in the story? No it just couldn't be! He was a simple street performer for crying out loud, and though he hated to admit it, he was also just a kid!"

Allen gave out a nervous chuckle and looked from Road to the Earl, still not believing what they were saying.

"Ok i believe 'he bo'h ov you are noahs, bu' 'here's no way i'm one 'oo. I'm 'uman, i was bawn 'uman, an' sure i 'ave a defawmed arm bu' 'ha' doesn'' mean i'm no 'uman. Righ'?" he asked unsure.

He was generally sure of himself and what he belived, but this whole situation was throwing him of his axis. He just wasn't sure what he believed anymore.

"You were once human, you aren't wrong about that, after all we all were in the beginning. But now you have awoken as a Noah, which is the reason why you have lost some of your memories." Road declared.

"And if you don't believe us, just look into this mirror." The Earl said, bringing up a mirror Allen was confused as to where he got it from.

Allen raised one brow, and looked at the mirror skeptically, and slowly crawled down the bed to where the Earl was standing and snatched the mirror from him.

Allen didn't look into the mirror straight away, he was much too frightened with what he might see and realize that they had not be lying to him.

Allen took a deep breath and looked down at the mirror, and almost dropped it from shock. He was sure he was looking at his own reflection, but at the same time he thought it was a stranger. His skin was no longer its usual pinkish hue, but was now grey like, same as Road's, but that wasn't the most shocking part. His eyes were no longer blue, or even human like. They were amber, and slit like a cat's.

Allen let out a shuddering breath, and raised his hand to his hair that was no longer straight but waivy. His hands shook ever so slightly as his hands touches his bangs, and he fearfully pushed his hair away from his forehead to reveal stigmatas etched to his skin. Allen's eyes landed on the black markings, and looked at them in disbelief and that was when it hit him like a cart.

Allen screamed and dropped the mirror as if it burned him. His hand went clenched his heart, as he felt like something had just pierced it right through. His hand clenched his shirt roughly, and he took in deep breaths, as fear overcame him. And that was when everything went black.

* * *

Everything was black, and quiet, and he felt like he was floating through that blackness, being carried away to somewhere unknown.

He didn't know what was going on, or how long had gone by but he felt at peace in this little courner of nothingness and he rejoiced over it. He seldom ever got a moment of peace, or tranquility and so he held on to that fiercely. Even when the blackness around him began to change colour, he still attempted to hold on to the blackness.

Allen fought against the light that sought to take the darkness, until it was futile and he was hurled into another unknown space.

The first thing he noticed in this new place was the horrible screams. Screams that pierced his very being with its fierceness.

Allen's eyes close tightly shut, and pressed his hands against his ears, attempting to keep the creaming from coming into his ears, but it was for naught. The countless screams continued, becoming louder and louder, and all he could do was clench his teeth to the point that he thought they would crack in half.

The tormenting screams continued for what felt like ages, and all he couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to escape this place, and return to the peaceful blackness, but once more he couldn't get what he wanted, instead he felt his eyes flutter open involuntarily as if someone was priying them open for him.

Allen fought it with all his might, but eventually his eyes flew open and that's when he saw it. It was almost as if he was looking though a stained glass, muddy and difficult to see but it was clear enough to make out everything.

What he saw was a hellish world filled with fire, suffering, death, and pain and in the middle of it all was a battle between two groups he couldn't quite make out their appearance. The battle was fierce, and the more the two groups fought the more they ravaged the world and the more people died around them.

He wanted to look away, but found that he could not, he was stuck with looking at everything, and feel the unbearable suffering around him.

There were hundreds upon hundredths of people screaming from pain, and suffering as they attempted to escape the battle but couldn't. He wanted to help them, but he was hopelessly rooted to his spot. He wanted to look away but couldn't. He wanted to block out the screams but couldn't. He wanted everything to end, but it wouldn't.

Allen clenched his head in his hands and shook his head. Why was there so much hatred, why was there so much death? Why was this happening? Why him? He just wanted to go home!

' _He did this to us, to all of us, and he cannot be forgiven for it.'_ A gentle voice whispered in his head.

Allen sopped shaking his head, and stood frozen on the spot, as he started to remember.

'That's right, he did this to us. _'_ He said to himself, and slowly brought his hands down and looked at them as if in a trance.

He who they loved and trusted as their god betrayed them, the innocence started this war and brought all the suffering with it, and he couldn't be forgiven for that.

Allen balled his hands into fists, and bared his teeth in anger. Hundreds of different emotions overcame him, but at the top of all of them was hatred. Pure and untemper hatred for the innocence and for what happened 7000 years ago.

'The innocence is responsible for everything, the innocence is to blame!'He kept repeating to himself.

The innocence was at fault for the war, and the death of millions, as well as their suffering! And the more he cursed the innocence, the more he began to realize that, that same evil that killed everyone also, lived inside of him.

Allen growled in anger and disgust as he felt the innocence swirl within him, and began fighting within his body, attempting to destroy him for what he now was, but Allen wouldn't allow that to happen.

He sent a powerful surge of black matter through his body that burned him from the inside, but it didn't matter, all that mattered was destroying the parasite inside him!

The innocence retaliated, and Allen gave out a sharp scream of pain, but he wouldn't give in. He kept fighting the innocence for dominance over his body, and much like the battle waging in front of him, neither gave in. Allen kept sending surges of black matter not caring that it hurt him like nothing else before.

The fight continued for what felt like ages, until the innocence was weakened by the onslaught and couldn't keep going, and that was when Allen sent out his most powerful surge. Without mercy or remorse he strike against the innocence one last time, and pierced it in half.

Instantly a pang of pain overcame his right arm, and he gave out a sharp scream, and yet he didn't care, in fact he was overcome with joy that he had destroyed the innocence inside him.

Without him noticing the screaming stopped and the world turned black once more, and he felt his eyelids drop from exhaustion as he curled himself into a ball.

" _Allen Walker, you were born as one of god's chosen, the Noah. You carry within you Noah's genes. Within you now exists both the fury and suffering of true events of 7000 years ago, its memories are engraved upon your genes. Allen, that memory you have is hatred. You can now see this world's true form, and what must be done.'_ Said the voice, and that was when everything finally ended.

* * *

"Don't ever forgive him, not ever!" he said to himself, and snapped his eyes open.

Allen slowly sat up. Was that really just a dream? Or had it actually been real? He couldn't really know, but something inside him told him it had been real.

Allen groaned, and leaned back on his right arm, but as soon as he put a bit of weight on it a pang of pain shut right through his nerves and he gave out a scream.

Instantly his good hand shut up to grasped his right arm as if it would relieve the pain but it did nothing. His hand was throbbing, and shaking and Allen fearfully looked down at it and was shocked. His familiar red arm was no longer red but blackened, and the cross that was embedded on top of his hand was gone, as well as the deformity of his skin, now it just looked like a normal arm.

Without thinking, and no longer feeling the pain as much as he did before, Allen raised his arm and looked at it in shook. He spent all of his life with that red arm, with the deformity that made everyone shun him, and afraid of him. And now after so many years he was finally rid of it, and he couldn't believe it!

Through his joy he didn't notice that his arm stopped hurting, instead he clenched and unclenched his hand to see if it worked properly. He found that his fingers were struggling a little, but he was more or less fine.

Allen gave a cheerful cry and sprang out of the bed and to his feet with a swiftness he never had before.

' _Must be the Noah genes.'_ He mused to himself, but he ultimately didn't care.

He was ride of that blasted arm, and the innocence within it... And though he couldn't believe that dream had been real, or that the clown-

' _Lord Millennium.'_ He corrected himself unable to bring himself to call him anything but that now.

He couldn't believe he was actually telling the truth, or that he was actually a Noah. The 7000 year old war was real, exorcist are real, Akumas are real, innocence was real, and it was his duty to fight in this war and destroy the innocence and take his revenge.

"Don't ever forgive him." He murmured to himself, and his emotions blackened once more.

He clenched his hand. He felt the hatred seep into him, but he didn't let it overcome him, instead he occupied himself from thinking about the war by looking at around the room.

Allen walked around the room and explored, looking at everything but not touching anything. It really was a very nice room, filled with very luxurious furniture.

Allen kept walking around the room in awe, until his eyes reached the piano.

Unconsciously, he walked over to the piano on the corner and looked down at the keys curiously and outstretched his hand to touch it, only to pull it back. Someone once told him he shouldn't touch what wasn't his, but then again this room was probably now his so what could it hurt.

Allen outstretched his hand once more and his fingertips ghosted over the keys as if afraid to press them and get caught doing something he shouldn't. His fingers continued to hover over the keys and just when he was about to press down on one of them the doors shoot open.

Allen pulled his hand back and jumped away from the piano as if it had burnt him, and looked at the opened door.

A tall man with an elegant top hat and suit stood by the opened door. He had gray skin like the girl Road, and piercing amber eyes like hers, but unlike the girl's and his, this man's eyes were simply amber, they didn't have slits like his or several other irises like Road's. The man's eyes just looked human, making him wonder if he was indeed human. Allen looked up and saw the stigmata peaking from under his hair, signifying that he wasn't at all human.

Allen narrowed his eyes and glared at the man. Who on earth was this?

The man and Allen continued to stare into each other's eyes as if they were having a standoff, until the man simply sighed and took of his hat and pushed his hair back.

"Well are you inviting me in?" Asked the man with clear, and slightly deep voice.

Allen continued to glare the man, as he adopted a defensive posture looking more like an adorable prickly cat than anything else.

For a long while Allen simply stared at the man not saying anything or telling him to come inside the room. He didn't trust that man, or anyone in this place for that matter. Things were explained to him, but there was still so much shrouded in mystery, so he felt he was in the right to be defensive towards everything. After All that's how he manage to survive on his own this long.

The man however, didn't seem too keen on giving him time and simply arched a brow and stepped inside the room uninvited, and walked to where Allen was standing, causing him to tense on the spot.

In just a few strides the man was in front of him looking over him, and Allen had to tilt his head all the way up in order to be able to meet his eyes.

'' _e sure is tall.'_ He thought to himself in awe.

The man smiled down at him, and bent at the waist with one gloved hand behind his back and the other one outstretched towards him.

"Names Tyki Mikk, Noah of pleasure." He presented himself.

Allen looked away from his hand and looked at the man's face instead. He had a wide friendly smile plastered on his face, and if Allen had been any other eleven year old boy he was sure he'd be taken in by how friendly the man was, but he wasn't just like any eleven year old boy was he?

"Would ya step back? I don't loike people loomin' over me" He snapped.

The man named Tyki's eyes widen for a brief moment, and his smile fell. For a brief moment he looked at him with a considering look, but then seemed to gather himself and simply smiled again and stepped back putting his hand away.

"Yes of course. Sorry about that." He said sheepishly.

' _Jezzh, wot a pushover...'_ He thought to himself.

Through his life in the circus, and then wondering alone, making a living on his own, he had never once encountered an adult who was just -for lack of a better word- a wimp. Sure he hadn't cursed at him or anything, and he had said much worse to other adults, and definitely ruder but never once had he'd been allowed to get away with even the slightest slip of the tongue. He had always been punished for his lack of formality, and manners but no matter how much they punished him or even beat him he'd never once apologized or changed his mannerism. In fact he found it useful, because they usually left him alone after punishing him. The more annoyed and angry an adult became of him the easier it became to manipulate them. However, there were times when such tactics didn't work, for example Cosimov was immune to it and would actually use it as an excuse to beat him to a bloody pulp- not that he needed an excuse. There were also, a few others here and there but it was rare, and now as always it made him uneasy.

"What do ya want?" he asked annoyed.

The man named Tyki's eyes widened slightly once more, and this time he wasn't afraid to show his confusion nor the slight annoyance Allen could catch due to the way his left eyes twitched ever so slightly.

"What do you mean what do I want?" he asked confused.

Allen huffed, exasperated. Did he have to explain everything to these people?

"Ya came 'ere fer a reason right? So do wha'ever ya came 'ere ter do an' get out." He barked, and Tyki's eyes widen considerably.

For a long minute unruly amber eyes meet the measuring amber eyes of Tyki. As Allen looked at him he could see various emotions pass through those eyes, ranging from confusion, to annoyance to finally settle for something he wasn't expecting.

Out of the blue Tyki grinned and let out a bark of laughter, holding on to his stomach as if it would burst from laughter.

Allen instinctually took, a step back, shocked by the man's reaction.

What the hell did he say that was so funny? He simply told him to do what business he came here to do and leave, nowhere in that sentence did he throw out a joke or pulled off a funny face at the man.

After what felt like minutes the man named Tyki took in a shaky deep breath to calm down, and practically had to wipe the tears falling down his cheek due to how hard he had laughed.

"First impressions isn't one of your strength, eh boy?" Asked Tyki coming off rather mockingly, and that put him more on edge than him laughing at him. Not to mention that he isn't a boy, he was nearly 12 for crying out loud!

"Why should i' be? I don't care wot any ov ya, or wot anyone fnks ov me! ya bloody butte!" he barked and Tyki simply kept smiling down at him, as if mocking him.

"You should care, because –as I'm sure Lord Millennium has informed you- we are your family now, and I'm the one in charge of you."

Allen huffed, and leaned back on the cabinet behind him. Just because he understood the hatred seeped into every Noah, and the need to destroy the innocence didn't mean he was going to lay back and call twelve strangers his family.

"I don't need anyone takin' care ov me. I don't need a family either, so if ya came 'ere fer that then you'd be'er leave." He hissed, and this time Tyki's amusement drained as he looked at Allen with a measuring look once more.

Tyki kept looking at him in silence for what felt like an eternity, until he broke the silence with a long sigh. "Aww man, you sure are going to be a pain aren't you boy?" he drawled as he stroke the back of his neck

Allen just kept staring at him not saying anything. He didn't like this man named Tyki. He didn't get a good vibe from him for some reason. He somehow felt wrong, as if there was something seriously wrong with him and he couldn't really put his finger on what it was, and yet he felt a pang of familiarity to him as well, as if he'd known him forever.

Allen eyes narrowed. He never felt something like that towards anyone before. He was always weary of anyone he meet, simply because you had to be if you lived on the streets or the circus. In fact if he trusted every person under the sun he'd be long dead, and he was sure of that, which is why he refused to trusts this man or anyone here.

Tyki sighed, and crossed his arms, snapping him out of his train of thought. "Look boy, I know this is disorienting and strange -I went through the same thing, so I know. And I know it isn't going to be easy, but I can tell you that I wish you no harm."

Allen looked at Tyki skeptically. "I don't kna ya, or anyone 'ere. 'a can I 'ell trust ya?" He asked sounding unsure, and showing his age this time.

Tyki smiled charmingly and took a step forward, and this time Allen didn't step back and simply looked up at the tall form of Tyki who was looming over him once more.

"I don't expect you to trust me just yet, we've only just meet. But I know in time you'll come to do so, as well as the rest of the family." He told him confidently, but Allen wasn't too confident on that.

He was never one to make friends, or get along with anyone, simply because no one really tried. Who wanted to be friends with a poor street performer? And yet here was a man telling him that he now had a family, something he had long giving up hope of ever having.

"a can ya be so sure of that?"

"Because I was the same. I too had to come to this place after I became a Noah, and trust me I had no clue as to what's going on. I trusted no one, and didn't believe any words of comfort Millennium gave me, so I was sceptical to say the least. Of course I wasn't a mere boy when I first awoke as a Noah-"

Allen scoffed, and looked at Tyki annoyed. He hated being called a boy, but Tyki continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"However, I suppose you and I are the same in the regards. Neither of us have merged with our old memories so we have problems understanding everything." He theorized, and Allen looked at him confused.

"Memories, wot memories?" He asked confused.

Once more Tyki sighed, and put his hand on his hip. "We Noahs have a set of memories inside of us. Our human ones, and our ancient Noah ones. Our human ones are the ones we are. For example you're Allen Walker that's your memories. But now you also, have the memories of the Noah you reincarnate into, however I don't recommend you dwell too deeply into them." He added hastily at the end.

"Why nah?" He asked and Tyki simply huffed.

"Because you don't want to be consumed by them do you? Any Noah who dwells too deeply in their memories will eventually fall under the control of their Noah memories, a fate I'm sure you don't want." He told him, and Allen nodded this time and didn't question it, but at the same time more questions stemmed from Tyki's answers.

"an' le me guess, you're 'ere 'o 'each me 'ah 'o be like you, a noah. Ter change me." He huffed bitterly, and looked down at the floor.

He didn't want anyone to change him, or make him something he is not. He maybe a street boy, and he'll probably always be a street boy, but that didn't mean he wanted to change who he was. He didn't want to become some fancy, spoiled boy which is no doubt what they wanted to do with him. Also, he didn't want to be part of a family either.

Tyki gave out a thoughtful hum, causing Allen to jerk his head up and back at him.

"Well yes in a way, but ultimately it's up to you who you want to be. There're twelve members in our family right now, and all of them are different from one another." Tyki explained, but Allen wasn't convinced.

Tyki sighed and knelt on one knee in front of him to be eye levelled with him.

"Look bo-"

"Names Allen." He growled, and Tyki waved his hand dismissively.

"I see you don't yet understand what a Noah is, or what it is we even do, and explaining it would be too difficult. So how about I show you?" he proposed, offering his hand with a smile.

Allen narrowed his eyes, and looked from Tyki's eyes to his hand sceptically, as if it were the hand of the devil. He didn't trust him, or any of the so called Noahs, and yet something inside him told him he could, and yet the same feeling told him he couldn't trust him. This felt him with simply having to go with his gut.

Allen sighed, and grabbed Tyki's hand and shook it firmly.

Tyki smile widened, and after a few second of shaking his hand he let go and sprang to his feet.

"Well follow me then, and do try to keep up." He ordered, and Allen huffed as he moved away from the cabinet he was leaning on.

"Where 'o?" He asked sceptically, as he followed Tyki towards the door.

Tyki turned his head back and raised a brow. "Out." He responded simply and Allen frowned.

"I figured 'ha' ou', bu' where?"

Tyki turned away and walked away fully expecting him to follow. The older Noah didn't answer his question right away, as he put his hands inside his pockets and rummaged through them until he found what he was looking for.

Tyki took out a pack of cigarettes and a set of matches.

Allen watched annoyed, and with impatience, as Tyki slowly took out a cigarette and proceeded to light it and take in several puff.

Only after he puffed out several clouds of smokes, and only after what felt like several minutes of walking down a corridor did Tyki speak again. "You'll see, but don't worry it'll be fun I promise."

Allen huffed, and crossed his arms. "I don't trust you enough to believe that." He barked annoyed, and Tyki simply chuckled and puffed out another cloud of smoke, and looked back at him in amusement.

"Well if you must know, were going hunting." He said mysteriously, and this time it was Allen who raised a brow.

"Hunt what?" he asked, but Tyki didn't answer and simply looked forward and kept walking, with his hands deep in his pockets not at all mindful of the small boy struggling to keep up with his long strides.

And as young Allen followed Tyki- that was when the wheels of destiny began to change, and form a different path, a path that changed the course of the war.

* * *

Notes:

Now, first of all regarding Allen I know his dialogue was painful to go through and very difficult to understand for those who don't understand cockney accent, but don't worry, that'll change. Now as for his personality, I will say it will change but I have to break to everyone and say that he'll probably never be the same Allen in the anime/manga. The reason as to why I went with this personality is because before become Allen he was Red, and the reason he changed was thanks to Mana and his death, so if you take that away Allen is just Red.

Now as for the Noah aspect, and technically he is the 14, and inherited all his abilities and what not but he doesn't have his memories. Now the reason why he doesn't have his memories is because I think that in the Manga/anime Nea's memories were in hibernation in a way, so that he could regain back some of his lost strength. Now when, Allen was stabbed by crown clown that might have awoken Nea's memories and thus begun the process of turning him into a Noah. This is merely a theory, but it's what I'm going for in this fic if anyone's wondering.

Going further into this fic I recommend anyone reading that they'd be up to date with the manga, and that they've at least watched Hallow. I know that goes without saying seeing as everyone in the -man fandom tends to stay up to date on the manga (it isn't that hard with how little amount of content is released yearly after all) so I'm not worried. However, if you aren't up to date it isn't such a big issue, but i do warn that those that aren't might be a little confused.

Furthermore, regarding the innocence shard that Allen holds… well I can't tell you if it was really destroyed or not but I can say it was a really tough decision to get rid of it or not. Naturally the Earl nor any Noah would let Allen keep the innocence so of course it would be destroyed, I mean even Nea was disgusted with the fact that he now has an innocence.

And last but not least. I've been talking to my co-writer and we've been developing the entire story, and we both agreed that this fic would work much better as an M than a T. Now I understand a few of you that aren't comfortable, or don't like M ratings might be put off by this, so what I'll do is put a warning before every M section so that you may skip that part if you so choose to. Again I know some of you don't like this and I'm sorry, but I think this story will benefit better with an M rating, even though that wasn't initially the plan.

So anyways that was long explanation. Oh, and yea i'm going to be doing a bit of illustrations for the chapters, which i'm posting on a new Tumblr blog ( tumblr/blog/ms-faker) It's nothing too fancy and not for every chapter so hope you like them.

So finally thanks for reading and review.


	5. Chapter 5: A long awaited meeting

Chapter 5

A long awaited meeting

* * *

"Royal flush mate." A smooth male voice said.

The man to whom me the cards bested looked down at the cards in bewilderment, and looked up at his own set of cards as if he couldn't believe it.

"Haha, off by just one card. What a load of bad luck that is!"

A group of men seating around a round table laughed, and banged their fists and mugs against the table, causing a racket.

People around the tavern turned away form their own business to look at the loud men who were still laughing. The company around the table weren't exactly the finest society had to offer, in fact they were far from it. Quite a few of them were missing teeth, and the clothes they wore were torn and stained, not to mention that the smell of liquor oozing from them was pungent as well as the smell of tobacco, coal, and sweat, but despite their appearances they didn't stand out in the crowd.

The tavern appearance itself wasn't any better than that of the men seating around the table playing poker. It was a dingy place, with dim light and encased in the smoke of tobacco. The place smelled like a filthy ship, and piss convinced by alcohol, and grease. The tavern was filled with tables, some of them cramped against each other and filled with people playing poker or drinking and having a laugh. By the far wall, close to the door there stood a large counter where a heavy looking man stood cleaning a glass and serving drinks whenever someone came up to the bar. Overall it wasn't a the very best of taverns London has to offer, but it was a place people came to gather, and though it was a public place, everyone there knew that it was really just for locals, and regular customers.

The man who lost the match growled and slammed his cards against the table in anger. "That's de tenth time te-nite yer managed ter git so jammy! Dare a point we're dis stops bein' an' luk, an' starts bein' suspicious. Mate!" Hissed the man at the one who had beaten.

Said winner of the match was seating close to the wall and far from the lights, shrouding most of his face in shadows, revealing just his pearly white teeth and grinning lips.

"What're you talking about? I beat you fair and square mick, but if you want a rematch then-"

The man growled and sprang to his feet, and looked down at man hidden behind the shadows.

The man fumed, and looked around the table and slammed his hand against the table, causing the chips to fly and fall on the beer stained floor. "You're al' full av rubbish, oi nu you're cheatin'! so cum aff clean an' oi won't -"

Before the dark haired man could finish the sentence a large, heavy man from the group stood up, over towering the smaller man by several heads.

"You lost your game fair and square, so I suggest you leave before you say something that'll cost you more than a few shillings tonight." The large man said with a deep husky voice, and the smaller man visually began to shrink in on himself but he didn't stand down.

"Oi want another rematch, but th-"

The gigantic man huffed and pushed the smaller one, causing him to fall back on the ground with a loud thump, causing everyone in the tavern to turn their heads and look at the commotion.

"Can't you hear? I said scamper off, before I-"

The tall man didn't have to finish his sentence, because as soon as the smaller man hit the ground he gave out a loud squeak and shoot up his feet and ran out of the tavern without so much as a glance back.

The rest of the man around the table laughed, and sneered at the pathetic man except the one cast in shadows who simply grinned in amusement as he shuffled the cards, waiting for his next victim to arrive.

"You know that wasn't necessary John. You should have just let the poor man have another rematch, since I'm sure I could have convinced him of betting his own wife!" He remarked and everyone around him chuckled, as they looked at the poor man outside making his way home in the cold.

"Sorry about that Red." The large man mumbled, and lowered his head appearing ashamed of himself.

The man named Red chuckled, and shook his head. "It's alright I was just kidding. Come have another glass won't ya?" Red said, and John nodded and sat back down on a chair that was so flimsy and worn down that it was a miracle that it could withstand the man's weight.

"Well then Charlie, find me another victim." Red ordered, and the man named Charlie -a rather skinny young man in his twenties, who had too many to drink- gave out slurred laugh and looked around the tavern with half lidded eyes.

"O-ow bu''Im?" Charlie proposed, slurring his words, and swaying on his spot, coming dangerously close to falling more than once, only to straighten himself back up.

Everyone on the table turned to look at a man with a long moustache, and a missing arm, who was playing poker on a table across from them.

"Nah, too easy. I can see his bluff from where I'm seating, find another." Red ordered and Charlie nodded fiercely and looked around the table once more.

"'er?" He asked pointing at a women in her thirties who was quite pretty despite her wearing a worn torn dress. Just like the moustached mane, she was playing at another table, and unlike the moustached man she seemed to be winning.

Red hummed, and tapped his lips, as he thought about it, but ultimately shook his head.

"Nah, we wanna have a game of poker, not scare a fair lady half to death!"

Once more the man around the table laughed, and once more Red told Charlie to look for another, but once more the opponent was unsatisfactory and so they continued.

After Charlie called out his fifth pick, and Red refused, he huffed and put the deck down on the table.

"My patience's wearing thin Charlie, if you can't find anyone then I guess you'll have to sit in again." Red threatened and Charlie paled considerably.

"C-come o-on Red, I c-can' af-f-fford ta spend an-other shilling. Me w-wife wi-will kill me" Charlie begged, but Red simply shook his head.

"You know the rules Charlie. Can't find anyone, then you'll be the one-"

Before he could finish his sentence the door to the tavern banged open, allowing the cold air to seep inside, blowing off a few candles, and startling a few people.

There really wasn't anything unusual about the entrance, many people went in and out the same manner, but rather the person who walked in that was unusual.

A rather tall man, with a long black hat and long flowing red hair stood at the door. He wore a long black coat with golden marking, and buttons that were richly adorned, and appeared to be quite expensive. On his waist there hung a rather expensive looking gun that glinted with the light ever so slightly. The man also, wore thin glasses and a white mask that covered half of his face, completing the mysterious look.

"Well Charlie it seemed you get to keep your last shilling after all." Red mused and Charlie sighed in relief, as Red looked at the man who stood out like a sore thumb.

Everyone in the tavern had stopped what they were doing, and were now looking at him, shocked and confused to see a man of such caliber and class come into such a dingy tavern. However, despite all eyes being on him the man barely even noticed, or didn't care as he walked inside the tavern as if he owned the place, which Red knew was sure to anger a few of the more pesky customers.

"Hey mate! Weapons aren't allowed in here pal." Grumbled the tavern keeper, but the man didn't so much as look at him. Instead, the man's eyes roamed the tavern as if looking for something, until his eyes landed on him, and looked at Red coldly.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Asked someone at the table, and Red simply shrugged.

The man took a step towards where they were seating, and slowly approached their table, and John stiffened.

"Should I get rid of him Red?" Asked John, getting ready to stand up if Red gave the word, but Red simply shook his head and kept looking at the man with intrigue.

When the man was finally in front of their table, and looming over all of them, casting them in a large shadow, he simply continued to look down at Red with the same cold expression.

"Hey pal, are you deaf or something? I said no guns allowed!" The tavern keeper growled, as he made his way towards the man. But once more the man didn't so much as look back at him.

"It's alright Fred, he's with me." Red cut in before Fred laid a hand on the man.

Fred froze and looked at Red as if he wanted to argue but simply sighed and walked away, stumping ever so slightly.

Red shook his head at the immature tavern keeper and looked up at the red headed man with intrigue once more.

The table was silent, except for the slight tapping of John's foot as he looked at the man, ready to spring to his feet if he did anything, and so when the man did speak up he practically jumped up to his feet from the shook.

"Interesting scar." The man commented with a deep voice, and Red's lips quirk up in amusement.

"Interesting mask." Red shot back, and the man simply grumbled.

The both of them fell silence as they looked at each other. Meanwhile the others around the table, looked back and forth from one to the other as if expecting something to happen, and not wanting to miss anything.

"So. How can I help you my good man?" Asked Red tilting his head, and showing a bit more of his face, but still covered by the shadows.

"I'm looking for a boy named Allen Walker, my sources tell me he should be here?" declared the man, and Red grinned into the light causing his teeth to glint in amusement, meanwhile everyone else seating around the table were confused as to what was going on.

"Well that depends." Red answered, leaning back on his seat, and shrouding his face further into the shadows.

Everyone turned away from Red, and looked at the man, who raised the one single brow that was visible. "On what?" He asked sounding annoyed.

All the heads on the table turned back to look at Red, who chuckled and grabbed the deck of cards off the table and began to shuffle them with expertise.

"If you can win a game of cards." He proposed, and everyone turned to look back at the man with devious smiles and grins, imagining the amount of money Red could get out of this man. The man however, was not falling for the trap.

The red headed man huffed, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I've heard about you all over town. The man who hasn't lost one hand of poker. I rather think I'm at an unfair disadvantage." He grumbled, and the sound of disappointment were audible from everyone seating around the table, except for Red who simply stopped shuffling the cards and placed them in front of the empty seat.

"Well then humour me. Just play one game with us simple mortals sir exorcist, and I'll answer your question." He proposed, and everyone looked at the man shocked.

Exorcists? The man was an exorcists? But he looked nothing like one! He wasn't wearing proper priest clothing, or anything that even hinted that he was a priest. He looked more like some sort of bounty hunter instead.

The man looked down at Red and curled his upper lip in annoyances, but ultimately sat down and grabbed the deck of cards off of the table a little bit more roughly than was necessary.

"I'll play one hand, and then you tell me what I need to know." He grumbled, and dealt the cards.

"I always keep my word." He mused, and picked up his cards, but this time he didn't change them for different ones.

He didn't want to cheat his way to winning with this opponent, he wanted to beat him fair and square which he knew was much more enticing than simply cheating- at least with this opponent that is.

Red handed the man his chips, and so the game went under way. The redhead man started off on a very confident foot as he bet a large sum right away, which surprised him. Of course he tried to read the man and see if he was simply bluffing, but for the first time ever he could find very little on his opponent, making him falter very so slightly.

The game itself didn't take long, and in no time there were on the river, and after they made their last bets it was time to show their cards.

"After you sir exorcist, old before young and all that." He beamed, and the man scoffed.

"Watch who you're calling old, you damn brat." He huffed, and placed his cards on the table revealing a four of a kind hand.

Red's eyes widened and his shoulders slumped and looked at the cards in disbelief, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

Red never lost, not ever.

Red sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"And here I was thinking that you'd be the one to finally beat me." He drawled dramatically, as he put his cards down revealing a straight flush with a cocky smile.

The man huffed, and leaned back on his chair defeated, and everyone began to cheer as always and bang their cups against the table.

"Never doubted you Red!" Shouted one of the men and they all cheered their agreement, and Red nodded and chuckled.

"As if I'd ever lose." He said arrogantly, and grabbed the cards from the table and reorganized them.

"But I gotta admit you're not so bad at poker sir exorcist." he mused, and the man grumbled and took out a cigarette from a pack and lit it, puffing out a large cloud of smoke. The smoke cloud he created curled around the table, covering everyone's vision partly with its thickness.

"Better than I expected from a pampered exorcist that's for sure" he teased, and the others snickered and laughed, however the man was not amused.

He kept looking at Red with the same cold emotionless expression, as he kept taking small drags off his cigarette.

"Glad I amuse you." he remarked, and grabbed the stub of his cigarette and let out another large cloud of smoke.

"I've kept part of my bargain, it's time you keep yours. I wish to speak with Allen Walker." He demanded, and Red -or rather, Allen smirked and shuffled the deck of cards.

He of course knew who this man was, and which exorcist he was. It was hard to not know such a famous exorcist as Marian Cross after all. He knew exactly who he was, and of his skills at exorcising akumas, as well as his intelligence in battle, which is why he couldn't understand why he'd so willingly walked into snake's lair?

Allen leaned back on his seat, and continued to shuffle the cards.

He thought about refusing Cross, and telling him to simply scamper off while he still could or ask him to play another game, or possibly even kill him -lord knows that would save them a lot of time when they have to kill him eventually- but then he saw the piercing eyes of his that were quickly losing their patience and he choose to bite the bullet. He came here to relax after all, not to look for conflict.

Allen sighed dramatically, and waved his hand dismissively at the others seated around the table. "Well I suppose funs over boys, time to go back home or to wherever hole you crawled from." he declared and everyone gave out cries of indignation and annoyance but didn't once refused and simply stood up one by one and left the table, except for John who was standing beside him looking down at Cross as if trying to intimidate him, but Cross barely even bat an eye.

"You sure you'll be fine here bos?" Asked John unsure, and Allen nodded and waved John away not telling him anything or looking back as he left, leaving Cross and Allen lone.

"Well then?" asked Cross sounding annoyed, breaking the brief silence.

Allen sighed, and put the deck of cards neatly on the table, and leaned forward on his shoulder, his face finally coming into full view.

His hair was long and wavy, and tied loosely with a red ribbon. His pentagram scar was as always present on his right eye, and the colour of his eyes were a soft blue colour. He looked young, younger than most men in the tavern, but at least he no longer had the appearance of a mere boy. No he looked his age which was nineteen years of age.

"Ay, I'm Allen Walker, so how may I be of service to you sir exorcist?" he drawled, and Cross looked him over briefly, and landed his eyes back on his.

"Can we not speak in a more private location?" he asked looking around the loud tavern in annoyance.

"Oh? Taverns aren't to your standards sir exorcist?" he asked with amusement.

Cross huffed, and leaned back on the table.

"Name's Cross kid." He said taking off his hat and placing it on the table in front of him.

Allen's chuckled, amused that the great general Cross was so easy to get under his skin.

"Whatever you say sir exorcist. However, I think its best we stay here for now. I don't think going anywhere more private would be safe." He declared, with a hint of amusement but fully meaning what he said.

The table became silent for a little while, and across let out a puff of smoke that hit Allen straight in the face.

"Not safe for who?" Cross asked and Allen arched a brow and his grin grew vicious.

He loved toying with exorcist, and he particularly liked the drawn out chases. The others weren't all so keen on that and preferred to end them quickly, but he took his time and enjoyed every minute of the chase. Unfortunately for him though, not every exorcist was able to live long enough to amuse him, as they tended to die halfways through the chase. However Cross was one he knew could bring him great amusement.

Allen chuckled, smiled charmingly at Cross.

"I like you. You aren't the usual slow minded fool I have to deal with. So just for that I'll give you my word that we won't be overheard." He promised bringing a finger up to accentuate his words.

"This place's quite loud you see, and not the brightest of people tend to come here, so you won't have to worry." He explained.

Cross eyes narrowed, and he bit the stub of his cigarette. "How can I trust your word?" Asked Cross skeptically.

Allen sighed and rested his chin on his hand. "You can't can you? But I can tell you that this is my free time, and my patience is wearing thin." He threatened with a smile.

Cross twitched, and crossed his arms in front of his chest, but he kept his mouth shut and didn't complain.

' _Smart human.'_ He mused to himself.

Most exorcists tended to call him up on warning he gave them whenever he happened to come across one. Of course those exorcists didn't know he was a Noah, and they probably didn't even know what a Noah was to begin with, but one things was for sure. Whenever he gave them a chance to walk away, they'd always declined the offer or challenge him, which always resulted in their instant death. The way he saw it ungrateful humans like them didn't deserve his time and patience to finish them slowly, and Cross clearly knew that.

"Fine then, I'll cut to the chase and save you time. I know perfectly well who you are, and what you are, and what Noah you're the reincarnation of. Now as for the reason why I'm here it's quite simple. I wish to propose something to the Millennium Earl."

Allen's reaction was instantaneous, as his eyes widened and froze on the spot, completely caught by surprise.

The fact that Cross knew he is a Noah wasn't shocking at all, he was sure most generals would be able to figure that one out. However the fact that he knew which host he was of was rather shocking, and concerning. No one, except the rest of the Noahs knew which Noah he was the host of. In fact, almost nobody outside his family knew the existence of his Noah, so how come Cross knew?

Allen's eyes looked up to meet Cross's eyes to see if he could find answers, but just as he was during the poker game he couldn't find anything.

' _There's more to him than meets the eye.'_ He said to himself thoughtfully.

Allen's composed himself, and his grin fell and sat up on his seat, adopting a more serious posture.

"Ok now you've got my attention Cross however, if it's the Millennium Earl you want I must inform you that he's quite busy at the moment." He informed him, and Cross leaned back on his chair adopting a more relaxed posture.

' _Who was playing with who?'_ He asked himself with amusement as he realized that Cross had switched the tables on him.

"I don't wish to speak to him personally I just want you to carry a message for me." He practically ordered, and Allen's brow twitched with annoyance and amusement.

To think that such a lowly being could have such nerves.

"And why on earth would I do that? I'm not your messenger boy, and if I am who you say I am then tell me, what's keeping me from killing you right here and now." He asked without a hint of amusement.

Cross raised his brow and took in a large puff of smoke from his cigarette and put it out using the worn out table, not once looking away from him as he did so.

"You wouldn't kill me in such a public space, it just doesn't seem your style. And besides, I've been watching you for a long time. I know you aren't one to simply jump into conflict at every chance you get, nor are you prone to killing someone off quickly. You rather drag it out, and watch with amusement as your prey wriggles like a worm. I reckon you must have gotten that from Joyd's host" he mused, and Allen's eyes narrowed at the mention of Tyki.

Under the table, and out of Cross sight, his hand balled into fists.

Cross definitely knew more than any normal exorcists or human should about his family, and that was quite concerning. The Noah clan has always been secretive and careful with their secrets and identity, and role in the war. Whenever they were faced with an enemy, or if someone knew about them they'd always dispatch said human without prejudice, and as quickly as possible. In fact, most exorcists didn't know of their existence, except for those in the higher ranks. And even then they didn't know as much as Cross clearly does.

' _I really should kill him.'_ He thought to himself, but before he could ponder on that decision Cross continued.

Cross tore his gaze away from him and looked around the tavern as if looking for something. "And let's not mention that everyone here seems to know you so I'd say you frequent this tavern and therefor I doubt you'd be willing to lose it over such a trifle matter." He deduced, and pinned him with his eyes once more.

"So -in your own words- my patience is wearing thin, so let's just cut to the chase shall we?" He proposed, and Allen's mouth almost fell open in shock –almost.

A few emotions overcame him during the brief moment they remained in silence, but one was the most prominent. Indignation.

Who the hell did this human think he was? He'd killed humans for much less, and yet here he was just sitting down in shock allowing a human –no- an exorcist live and say whatever he wanted to him?

Allen gave out a snort, and his shoulders began to shake as he laughed. Meanwhile Cross simply stared at him coldly.

' _Finally, someone worthwhile!'_ He thought to himself.

Allen's laugh died down to a chuckle, and he gave out a long sigh. He looked back at Cross and tapped his finger against the table.

"You sure are an interesting one Cross Marian. I can't decide whether you're a genius, or quite foolish, either way you've peaked my interest so I suppose there's no harm in listening to what you have to say is there? I'm not on duty as they say, and I'm not in the mood to fight at the moment."

Allen stopped tapping his fingers, and rested his elbow on the backrest of the chair, and crossed his legs. "Unfortunately though, I don't really have that much time left. I have somewhere I need to be very soon, so tell me. What exactly did you come here for?" he asked intrigued.

Cross didn't say anything right away, and so Allen began to speculate what that reason was.

He could come up with a few reasons on his own, but none of them really made sense. Here was Cross Marian, a well-known and highly respected exorcist in his own right that was secretly having a conversation with a Noah. Well he would said secretly since he knew the Black order would never reach out to a Noah, or seek out another Noah willingly if it weren't for the simple act of killing them. That was because everyone in this war knew about that simple law in nature. Exorcists hated Noahs and Noahs hated exorcists, it was nice and simple, yet here was Cross Marian -and he supposed him as well- speaking to each other as if that law in nature didn't exists.

Cross leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

"What if I told you there was a possibility that the heart is somewhere within the Black order" Cross asked, leaning his head down so that he wasn't looking through his glasses.

Allen froze once more, and his hand tightened under the table at the mention of the heart, but his face or posture didn't give away his reaction. Instead he stroke his chin thoughtfully, and looked at the ceiling as if deep in thought.

"Well I suppose I'd torture you for the information, then kill you and head over to the Black order and retrieve it once and for all." He beamed cheerfully, looking down at Cross with a smile, who didn't so much as flinch at the mention of killing him.

Cross looked down and fidgeted with a glass that had been left at the table. "I suppose you could, and with your range of powers I expect you'd be able to achieve that. However, even you can only hit one branch at a time, and there is more than one branch that makes up the Black order. Even if you managed to destroy one of said branches on your own, there's still six other branches and lets not mention central. With that many connections, it'll be simple for one branch to warn the rest and within twenty four hours every single exorcists will know of the attack. Within those twenty four hours a protocol would be set in motion to protect the heart, and hide it somewhere you nor any of the other Noahs will ever find it. That is if they indeed have it." He declared, and looked away from the glass and into Allen's eyes that had long lost their humour, and their luster and he looked at him coldly.

"What you say is merely hypothetical, but tell me. Does the Black order have the heart in their possession?" He asked leaning on the table, so that he could look closely at Cross and tell if he was lying.

He was angry at Cross, and his Noah instincts screamed at him to simply kill Cross and look for the heart himself, despite what Cross said. Of course he knew he wouldn't do that, since he knew that what Cross said was true. He is powerful enough to decimate one of the Black order's branches to mere ruble, but even he couldn't strike at every branch at once. There was of course one solution to this and that was attacking the order as a clan, but he knew that even if the whole clan attacked every branch at once they risked the chance that the heart is not at any of the branches and therefore send whoever has it into hiding.

Allen clenched his teeth in frustration. He wanted the heart destroyed, it was a want that was etched into their very genes. However, if he acted hastily then the heart could be lost for who knows how long.

"You didn't come here to simply tell me that, so why did you come here?" he growled no longer caring that his mask was slipping.

Cross smirked, and grabbed the glass filled with whiskey and downed the whole thing, and softly yet firmly placed it back on the table.

"I've come here to tell you I'll help you infiltrate the Black order and look for the heart." He declared simply, and Allen's brows shut up in shook.

Did he hear right? Did Cross, THE Marian Cross tell him that he'd help him infiltrate the Black order and retrieve the heart? There was just no way, he must have heard wrong.

"Did you just-"

"Yes." Cross said curtly, and Allen looked at him as if he'd gone mad.

"And why on earth would you do that? The respectable general Cross Marian, sympathizing with the enemy. You should be careful with your actions lest you become a traitor in the eyes of your god. And we all know what that would entail don't we?" he asked faking amusement, but really he was frozen in shook.

Cross scoffed. "I'm not betraying the order, nor am I here on behalf of the Black order. I'm here for my own personal reasons." He declared, and Allen raised one brow in intrigue.

"I reckon you won't tell me that those reasons are?"

"No." Cross answered, and Allen huffed.

He didn't trust Cross, and he didn't couldn't really believe a word he was saying without any proof, and yet…

"Why come to me now? We've always known that there was a chance the Black order had already acquired the heart, so this information come to no surprise, and I'm guessing you know that. And yet you choose now to come to me now. Why?" he asked, and Cross smirked and took out another cigarette.

"Because I know the Earl is getting ready to make his first strike in 7000 years. Now, why has he taken this long? I can only guess, but if I'm right and the Earl is indeed getting ready to start a war, then I know you could use my help."

"Your help?" he asked a little disgusted that they'd need a lowly human's help.

Cross lit his cigarette and put out the match, and took a long drag. "Yes my help." Cross said simply, and Allen growled in disgust.

"You think too little of our clan. We don't need your help, we could easily infiltrate the Black order and retrieve the heart ourselves." He scoffed, but Cross simply grinned and Allen's nostrils flared in anger.

Cross nodded in agreement, and let out a large cloud of smoke that hit Allen straight in the face, causing him to growl in anger once more. He hated that Cross was getting under his skin so easily, but he couldn't help it.

"I suppose you could do that, but then you won't get to have the information and secrets I have. Secrets I'm sure would interest you personally."

"Secretes? What secretes?" he asked with a growl.

Cross let out another cloud of smoke, and looked through the haze of the smoke and into his eyes for a long while before answering.

"A long time ago, I knew a man named Nea. Or should I say the fourteenth?"

As soon as he said that name Allen froze on the spot and his eyes widened.

' _How?'_ he wondered to himself but could think further on the answer, as Cross continued to speak.

"I knew him personally and therefore know secrets that even Road Kamelot does not." He informed him and leaned further on the table. "Tell me, haven't you ever wondered why the fourteenth betrayed the clan? Why from all thirteen Noahs did only Road and the Earl survived? Or even better, why if there were originally thriteen disciples, who on earth is the fourteenth and where did he come from?" he asked leaning further on his elbows, and looking straight at Allen's eyes as if he could see straight to his very soul.

Silence fell around the table, as they both looked at each other.

Many things came to Allen's mind at that moment. From thinking about killing Cross before he posed a threat, to wondering how on earth Cross knew so much, and how he knew the fourteenth? Hell even he didn't know who the fourteenth really was and he was his host! Of course he'd wondered as to who he was and why he'd betrayed the clan ever since he learned he was his host, but no matter how many times he asked the Earl or Road, and now wisely –they never revealed anything which frustrated him.

Allen's tightened his hand, and he noticed that a bearably visible crack appeared across the wooden surface of the table.

Why could he not know who the fourteenth was? Why was it such a mystery, and why did it have to be a stranger and an enemy who proposed to tell him?

Everyone in the clan knew of course that his Noah memories were a sensitive topic for him. Everyone in the family knew of their memories, and though they didn't remember everything about them, they still had them present in them. Even Tyki -who refused his Noah side more than anyone- had his memories intact and present even though he kept them locked tightly behind bars. But he? He had had no memories of the 14th, not even a whisper. He knew nothing about him, and he hated how some of members of the family treated him differently for something he didn't do, or even know!

Allen, clenched his teeth and the crack on the table grew.

"I doubt you'd pass off such an opportunity to learn what really happened thirty years ago." Cross remarked putting out his cigarette.

"Unfortunately though the decision to trust me isn't yours to make, you're merely a messenger after all." He said flatly, and slid his chair back and stood up, looking down at a confused and angry Allen.

"So when the Earl makes his decision look for me, I won't be so hard to find." He remarked, and grabbed his hat and placed it on his head, and with that turned around and raised his hand in a curt wave.

"See you around kid." he said, and exited the tavern, leaving Allen seating on the table on his own, and incredibly shocked and confused.

' _What the?'_ he asked himself, not knowing what to think or where to begin, so instead he looked down at the table.

The once neatly stacked cards were now scattered across the table, as well as his winnings, and Allen's eyes narrowed.

He had won the poker match, but as he looked at it in hindsight had he really? Of course he wasn't talking about the mere game of cards, but at the whole situation. He always thought himself cunning and smart enough to outwit almost all of his opponents, and yet here he was playing himself right into Cross's hands so easily that it was embarrassing. He had been so thoroughly outwit, and thrown out of his element so much so that his grip on his Noah side has slipped ever so slightly as was proof of the crack on the table.

Allen eyes shifted to his balled hand, and tilted his head down causing his wavy hair to flop over his eyes. He simply sat there looking at the crack and his hand, until he gave out a low chuckle.

Not once had he'd ever been beaten at his own game, and there was only one thing that crossed his mind. That damn Cross was sure going to be a lot of fun to play with. So yes he was going to deliver the message to the Earl, and play Cross's game, but in the end he was determined to come out on top, and he could only imagine how much he'll enjoy killing Cross then.

Allen smirked, and looked up from the table and at the wall.

'Things just got interesting.' He mused to himself.

Suddenly, from the far wall the clock gave out a bang, and Allen jerked his head up looked at the clock and sprang to his feet almost causing the chair to stumble over.

"Shit!" he grumbled to himself.

He didn't realize so much time had really gone by, Sheril was going to murder him!

Allen grabbed his coat from the chair and practically flew to the entrance of the tavern.

"See ya Fred!" He called back and dropped the bag of his winnings on the bar, right in front of a smiling tavern keeper.

"Till next time Red." He chuckled, taking the bag of coins.

And with that Allen exited the tavern and walked to an empty alley. He looked from one side to the other, and when he was convince there were no human around he closed his eyes and recited the song in his head. A door to the ark opened in no time, and Allen opened his eyes and walked through it.

He was definitely going to be scolded by Sheril, and probably Lulu for being late for the party.

* * *

What is this? two updates in one week woooot? well yea i'm not busy so why not, but don't get used to it lol.

So big time jump, seven years to be exact. I wasn't sure whether to keep is a secrete for as long as I could as to how long it had been, but at the same time I was worried some of you may have been confused and I'm sorry if you were. Also, unlike the anime/manga 7 years have passed not 3 and it'll be explained as to why later on.

So yea Allen seems very dark at the moment and to be honest I know he's very OOC right now, but there really wasn't any way to keep him in character that would seem realistic with the story. I mean he was raised by the Noah, and in the manga he was heavily influenced by Cross when he was young so take that away and he's an entirely different person. That being said he won't be complete dark all the time, and there will be loads of moments when he'll be the Allen Walker from the anime/manga. The series is after all called -man so Allen will have a dark and light side to him.

so finally the story is starting to progress, and the pace of it will get faster from here on out.

SO hope you enjoyed reading and please review.


	6. Chapter 6: Messenger boy

Chapter 6

Messenger boy

Warning: A mature section ahead, but still rated T

* * *

Allen tapped his fingers impatiently against the mahogany table. His head rested on top of his hand, as he looked at his surroundings completely bored.

He was at a party, one of Sheril's parties to be more precise. The occasion of said party was that there was no occasion, Sheril just loved to throw parties for no reason so that the humans he worked with could see his wealth. He himself honestly didn't understand why. Human opinions don't matter to them, but to Sheril they did for some reason. At least that's what he liked to tell himself.

Allen sighed in boredom, and grabbed the fine glass of wine seating in front of him, and looked down at it as he swirled the red liquid.

One would expect that he wouldn't even show up to such occasions if he hated them so, and it wasn't like he needed to anyways. The Earl didn't make it mandatory to come to such things so Jasdevi, Skin, Feedler, Mightra, Mercym, and Tryde never came to them. However Road, Tyki, and Lulu always attended as well as him but not by choice.

After he had awoken as a Noah, everyone in their family soon realized that it would seem odd to rest of the world that an orphaned child was now part of their family, not to mention that it could hurt their reputation among the aristocrats. So Lulu proposed that Sheril adopt him like he did with Road. However, Sheril was far from willing and so they were left with option number two. A few months after his awakening the Millennium Earl adopted him as his son, a role he took quite serious seeing as he raised him and thought him many things. But though he was technically his father, and the one to raise him, it was Tyki who was really in charge of him, and the one who really taught him.

In fact it was from Tyki whom he learned almost everything he needed to know to be a Noah, as well as a somewhat respectable member of society.

Tyki was the one who taught to speak more refinely, and act like a gentlemen and not like a circus monkey as he'd often teased. And it sure wasn't easy. It had proven to be a real challenge to lose the cockney accent, but through Tyki's perseverance -as he smacked him in the head every time he so much as uttered a slang- he managed to lose the accent. Of course he didn't make it easy either. Back when he was younger he didn't care that he had such an accent, or what people thought of him –he still didn't to some extent- but now that he's spent time among the higher class he was glad he lost the accent. He hated being mocked or ridiculed, or having people talk behind his back and having an accent was a sure way to get that. And now that he was older he was as refined as ever.

'Yea right.' He scoffed at himself, not even believing his own thoughts.

Six years had passed since he first set foot at a party Sheril insisted he needed to come -seeing as he would have no pseudo family of him absent- and though he'd changed a lot since then the same people that used to mock him then still did so till this day.

'He's so rude, nothing like the rest of the family.'

'Did you see his clothes? Just a vest, no suit or tie. And to think he's the Duke's son!'

'I've seen factory boys behave better than him!'

Allen huffed, and balled his opened hand into a fist. Those were among the things that people at this gatherings said about him, and though he'd expect he would be long used to it by now, it still annoyed him greatly. In fact here was one example.

Slowly he turned his head and his eyes roamed the glamorous hall, and quickly landed on the woman in question, whose name was Mary, and Allen's eyes twitched. She was just a simple human, albeit a very rich widow woman that probably murdered her own husband to keep his money to herself.

He so hated when she attended these parties, and even watching her made him want to puke, and she shared the same thought seeing as she was far away from him.

Mary was standing across the hall speaking loudly to a group, which Tyki was one of the few standing beside her, but apparently not by choice.

Of course he knew that Tyki didn't like Mary, nor did he particularly hated her either. He just found her level of comfort towards him annoying, as she was demonstrating now by standing a little too close to him to be proper. Of course Tyki didn't ever complain, or said anything, he simply smiled and talk to her as amiable as ever, as he was doing now. Now, if it had been him he would have called her up on that long ago, and embarrass her in front of every guest. But alas it wasn't him, as she hated him too much to ever come near him out of her own volition.

From across the hall Mary gave out a loud obnoxious laugh causing a few guest to turn to look at her, and snapping Allen out of his train of thought.

He looked at the men around her who were a little shocked at Mary's loud a laugh, and Allen gave out a long huff and looked away from the woman. He felt that if he kept looking at her for a second longer he'll really contemplated killing her even though the Earl made it specifically clear that all humans in this gatherings are strictly untouchable. Lucky for them because if the Earl had not given them such an order he was sure he would have killed her the slowest way possible, a long time ago.

Allen looked down at his cup, and took a sip from it.

Now wasn't the time to contemplate her death, no matter how great it would be. So his eyes drifted around the room until his eyes landed on a group of girls around his age, who so happens were looking straight at him.

When they noticed that he was staring back the girls giggled, blushed and turned their heads away, and began to murmur among themselves.

Allen closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

Of course not everyone spoke ill of him in this gatherings, especially not the girls of his age who coed and helplessly tried to catch his eye. Their treatment of him was always the same. They treated him like some exotic specimen, and seeing as they were now in the age to get married, they wanted to catch his eye.

'Isn't he handsome?'

'And that white hair! Do you think it's natural?'

'I don't know, but sometimes I wish I could touch it.'

'But Jenny, you know mom would never approve, he's too rebellious.'

That's what he would often hear from them, and Allen would huff in annoyance and groan. Humans were just so stupid.

"Not enjoying yourself Allen?" asked a familiar, and smooth female voice.

Allen eyes snapped open and he lifted his head off of his hand and turned his head to look at Lulu, who was standing behind him.

As always Lulu was wearing her usual suit, as well as the usual blue tie. Overall Lulu was quite pretty, far from his type but he knew she was quite beautiful to men that sought her type of beauty, the only problem however, was her dress code.

' _Why can't they ever say anything about her?_ ' he wondered to himself.

A suit was far from the correct choice of clothes for a women, especially an aristocratic woman. Yet no one ever said anything about it. He supposed because she gave off an air of a cold disposition that some people found intimidating? That could be it, but then again he glared at everyone and gave everyone the death stare so why didn't it work for him?

Allen put down his cup of wine and crossed his arms, and gave Lulu a bored look.

"What was your first clue?"

Lulu took a step closer and stood by his side, but didn't sit on the empty chair beside him.

"Do you need only one?" she asked without a hint of humour, or any emotion rather.

Allen chuckled and shook his head, he expected such an answer from her.

"Nah, you're right I am bored." He drawled leaning his head back on the chair, meanwhile Lulu looked at him as emotionless as ever.

"Why don't you look for Road?" she asked, and Allen arched one brow and looked at her thoughtfully for a moment then shook his head and sighed.

"I would, but Sheril made it specifically clear that were to stay away from each other during parties, and as you know I don't do what he says but our dear Millennium asked it of us so now we have to comply with Sheril." He fumed, shaking his head at the injustice of it all.

What did it matter what he and Road did together? He wasn't a kid anymore, and Road was far from being one too, even though she pretended to be one.

Lulu nodded and hummed her understanding but didn't say anything. The both of them remained in silence for a little while, as they watched people talk and dance, and overall being obnoxious.

He kept staring until the humans got boring to look at so he swept his eyes across the room until he once more found Tyki.

He found him standing in front of two women, with one hand resting behind his back. Both young, and older women were looking up at him, appearing to be quite smitten with Tyki. The younger one was blushing ever so slightly, even though she was quite pretty. She had blond hair and her lips were practically glowing due to the red lipstick she was using, and her hair appeared to be a waterfall of gold as she swayed it ever so slightly.

As he watched her hair even he had to admit the girl was quite pretty, even though she appeared to be younger than even himself. The older women on the other side was speaking amiably with Tyki, with an air of self-importance as if she was the centre of attention of the party, even though –she had similar hair as the girl- it wasn't as pretty, as it had long lost its luster, not to mention that she appeared to be hitting her forties.

Allen shifted on his seat, trying to get a better view of the group, and watched as the older women gave out a nervous laugh after Tyki said something with a large grin.

The younger Noah scoffed inwardly, and chuckled to himself.

' _Smooth talker._ ' He mused to himself, and continued to watch in intrigue as the older woman grabbed the younger one's hand and offered it to Tyki, much to the younger girl's embarrassment as she looked up at Tyki and blushed intensely, while Allen watched with amusement.

A women offering her daughter's hand for a dance wasn't odd in this types of junctions, especially to a bachelor such a Tyki something the older Noah had long gotten used to. Even the girl's age -which he guessed was around fifteen or sixteen- wasn't such a problem, nor an unusual thing to pin such a young girl to an older man. Women in this classes tended to marry fast, no matter the age.

As expected, Tyki nodded and gave the girl a large smile and accepted her hand and brought her to the centre of the dance floor.

Allen, and he suspected Lulu continued to watch the Noah of pleasure as he gave her an exaggerated bow and grabbed her hand and hip, and began to dance meanwhile the girl blushed furiously.

Allen shook his head and chuckled at Tyki's antics.

"That girl would do be most amiable for Tyki." Lulu remarked, and Allen sighed.

He didn't quite understand why almost every member of their family wanted to see Tyki married, it just didn't make sense to him. Sure Sheril was the only one whose reason made sense, seeing as he wanted to have one big fake family of his own, but others didn't make sense. Tyki is the Noah of pleasure, he would never settle for one person. He was much too unruly and free spirited to be shackled by a relationship, unless the right woman or man -whichever caught his eye- appeared one day.

"Any quiet girl would do just fine for any man Lulu, except for our dear old Tyki. Not to mention that she'd be shred to pieces by our family."

A hum emanated from her as she leaned on one leg. "Perhaps your right about Tyki, but you're wrong about her being shred to pieces by our family. As I'm sure you're aware Tricia is still very much alive." She remarked as her eyes shifted along with Tyki's movements.

Allen shrugged, "Yea, but it's all thanks to Sheril isn't it? Tyki though, that's another matter entirely." He mused, as he watched Tyki twirl the woman who was still blushing furiously and stiff from nerves.

"Maybe you're right. But how about you Allen? How's your relationship with Road?" She asked, and Allen swept his eyes to the left to look at her.

There were so many things he could say about that matter, and so many things he rather not say at the same time, so he settled for the next best things.

"Alright I suppose, could be better if it weren't for Sheril." He answered vaguely, and Lulu turned to look at him for a brief moment as if she wanted to ask more, but she simply nodded and didn't ask further.

Both of them continued to watch Tyki, until the dance ended and the older Noah gave the girl's hand a squeeze and kissed it softly while keeping eye contact with her. Of course the girl blushed some more, and he could tell she was struggling to thank Tyki for the dance.

Allen snorted, and shook his head.

' _Humans._ ' He thought to himself, and turned away from the dance floor and looked at Lulu.

"Well it was nice talking to you, but leaving you now Allen." She said simply, and began to move away but before she could Allen spoke up.

"I actually wanted to speak with you Lulu." He said, causing Lulu to stop and turned back to face him once more and Allen went straight to the point.

"I want to speak with lord Millennium, as well as everyone else. You think you can arrange that?" He asked.

Lulu raised one brow and looked at him inquisitively, as if trying to figure out why he was requesting such a thing. Eventually though, her curiosity won out before her mind could come up with a reason.

"I can, but I need to know the reason why." She told him, with a tone that was clearly interested on whatever Allen had to say to the Millennium Earl.

Allen smirked, and looked back at Tyki who was accepting another dance from yet another girl.

"I came across an exorcist named Cross Marian, do you know him?" He asked reaching for his glass of wine and taking a sip.

Meanwhile Lulu gave out a thoughtful sound, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Of course." She responded and Allen leaned his head back and looked at her once more, his glass of wide still in his hand.

"Well I spoke with him today, and he asked me to deliver a message to our lord Millennium." He informed her simply, as if they were discussing the weather and not telling Lulu that one of the most famous exorcist of the Black order had just sent a message to the Earl, a message he was delivering no less.

As he expected Lulu's eyes widened exponentially for a brief moment, only to regain their natural size as she composed herself in matter of seconds.

"What message?" She asked lacking emotions as always, but Allen pick up on the cracks of her composure. She was intrigued by whatever Cross had told him, there was no doubt about that.

Allen smirked and waved his finger from side to side. "I won't tell, I'll only tell the earl and only when were all gathered." He drawled playfully, and Lulu looked at him annoyed. But eventually she took a deep breath, and nodded but didn't seem at all happy.

"Very well then, I'll try to gather everyone this evening after the party." She assured him, and Allen gave her his brightest smile.

He knew he could count of Lulu, she always delivered whenever he asked her a favour, and she always put the clan's interest ahead of everything.

"Thanks Lulu, as always." He beamed, and she simply nodded and with that she left without looking back.

He smirked once and took a sip from his wine, and remained seating on his chair, not at all wanting to move, and much less talk to anyone in attendance. So instead he thought about the meeting he just had with Cross merely hours ago.

He knew Lulu would agree to call a meeting as soon as she heard Cross's name, it was hard not to be intrigued by such a famous exorcist and by whatever he had to say to them. But then at the same time he suspected that Lulu was wondering if he killed Cross, or let him live both of which weren't exactly good. If he let Cross live -which he did- then he was letting go an important target that more or less presented himself willingly to be killed. While on the other hand if he killed him then he would be killing someone important without first consulting the Earl. It was a no win situation, and he knew Lulu wondered how he went across such a matter.

"Psh!"

Allen snapped his head up in attention, and slowly put his wine glass down on the table, and turned his head to look for the source of the sound.

It wasn't at all a challenge to find the perpetrator of the sound, seeing as she was leaning on the kitchen doorway with her arms crossed and looking straight at him.

His lips instantly quirked up in amusement at Road, and his eyes looked up her up and down appreciatively. She was wearing her usual red dress, and ribbon to tie her unruly hair back making her look more proper. However, unlike her usual attire for parties, this dress was more revealing, showing her legs more as well as a few other parts.

Allen hummed in amusement knowing full well Sheril would have a nosebleed if he saw his precious daughter dressed in such a way. Meanwhile Road gave him a come hither look and gestured him to come to her with her finger, causing him to raise one brow.

He didn't move and kept watching her with interest as she simply turned around and disappeared through the doorway, and the door closed behind her. Of course he knew he needed to follow her and see what she wanted, any respectable gentlemen would, which is why he didn't care what Sheril or the Earl said and simply drank the last gulp of his wine and walked to the doorway Road had disappeared through.

He walked through the crowds of people, felling a few gazes on the back of his neck but he didn't turn to see who it was that was looking at him, instead he kept walking until he made it to the kitchen and made his way inside.

His eyes roamed the kitchen that was surprisingly empty, despite there being a party.

' _Well almost empty._ ' He told himself with a chuckle as his eyes landed on Road.

She was leaning back on a large wooden counter by the middle of the kitchen, with her arms crossed and looking straight at him with a smirk of her own.

"Enjoying the party?" She asked with her usual singsong voice, as Allen walked up her and stood in front of her at a respectable distance, and shook his head.

"You already know I'm not." He answer with amusement, and leaned back on the opposite counter and crossed his arms.

"Why?" She asked innocent, while giving him a wide smile and her eyes glinted. He knew that look very well.

"I hate being around these people for one." He grumbled, and Road nodded and pushed herself of the counter and took a step towards him.

"And secondly?" She asked with amusement, and Allen raised one brow in intrigue and continued.

"And secondly, I hate having to have to do whatever Sheril says." He huffed, and road took one more step towards him.

* * *

Mature content ahead, but still rated T.

For a little while both of them simply looked into each other's eyes. He knew full well what those glinting eyes meant, and he both dreaded them and was enticed by them at the same time.

Allen shifted on his spot, and suddenly Road took the last step and leaned in on him so that they were chest to chest, and she wrapped her arms behind his back tenderly. But the look she gave him was anything but tender, as she looked at him with a sultry look in her eyes that had his breath hitch ever so slightly.

"Wouldn't you like to get out of here?" She asked with a cocky smile, and raised her hand to his face and began to tease his jaw with her index finger.

As always her finger were soft like cotton, and Allen couldn't help but taken in a deep breath and chuckled lowly which sounded more like an incoherent grumble.

He was usually a very reserved, and a self-controlled individual, but whenever he was with Road all that was thrown out the window. She was just too good at wrapping him around her little fingers, and getting them both into trouble...but then again so was he.

Allen gave her a cocky smile of his own, and slowly, and teasingly snaked his arms around her so that they were wrapped around her waist.

Much like her, his index finger begun to tease the bare skin on her hip bone.

"Road, Road, Road." He drawled shaking his head from side to side.

"Were supposed to behave you know, we both promised Sheril and the Duke we would. So don't tempt me ok?" He said the last words with a whisper as he leaned further in to her, and rested his lips to her ear.

Road gave out an involuntary shiver, and for a moment he thought she might swallow his bluff, but then she did the opposite and called him up on it, which only proved to amuse him more.

"My, Allen. You've never been one to do what Sheril tells you to do. Is it possible you're becoming soft all of a sudden?" She asked with mock concern, as she tapped his jaw to accentuate her words.

Allen grinned and pressed her closer to him, and grinned wickedly when she let out a soft huff, and opened her mouth to say something else but never got the chance to say it.

As fast as lightning, and faster than Road could probably even notice, Allen leaned his head down and pressed his lips to hers with fury. It was supposed to be a simple kiss, just a peck and then they'd separate before anyone else walked in, but like every time their lips joined things quickly got carried away.

Allen deepened the kiss, and softly bit Road's upper lip, gaining a soft moan from him, which he used to his advantage as his tongue invaded her mouth, catching her by surprise.

His tongue slid across her lips, and swirled inside her mouth both teasingly, and sensually. Meanwhile his hands slowly rose to grab her arms, and stroke the soft skin, and Road who refused to be left behind raised her hands to his neck, and pulled him down to her to deepen the kiss.

The kiss continued, and Road began to take some control back as she forced her own tongue against him, but Allen would give in. And so -seeming to be frustrated- she disconnected their lips for a brief moment and without warning she nipped his lips hard enough to draw blood, causing Allen to jerk a little, and look at her with wonder.

He felt a trickle of blood run down his lips, nothing too serious nor painful, but he did bring his hand up and pressed them to his lips and looked down at his bloodied finger. He wasn't at all squeamish towards blood, nor was he stranger to Road's harsh treatments when they did something like this, in fact he found it quite arousing.

Allen looked back at Road with a smirk, and crashed his lips to hers. His lips worked her with a vengeance, as he drove his tongue back inside her mouth, receiving a moan from Road.

The kiss deepened, and both he and Road held on to each other tightly, but no matter how much they deepened the kiss to the point of being painful as their teeth clashed, it wasn't enough.

Allen groaned and moved his lips from her mouth and instead proceeded to move down to her exposed neck.

Road gave out a soft moan as Allen kissed her bare skin gently and sucked her neck with vigour. Once more, unwilling to be outdone, Road moved her hands to his hair and griped the strands tightly causing Allen to separate his lips briefly to give out a soft moan of his own.

Of course she knew his hair was his weakness, it always was however, not many knew that but Road found that out quite easily. After mere weeks after he awoke as a Noah, Road knew straight away, as if she'd known all along. Of course back then he was but a mere boy, and Road simply stroke his hair tenderly to put him gently to sleep whenever he had nightmares. It was years later, and years after years of the same unsure dance as they both walked a thin line of being together or not, only to fall to the inevitable, did Road start using her knowledge of his weakness to her devious advantage.

As if knowing what he was thinking Road pulled his hair again, and Allen couldn't help but separate his lips once more and groan.

'Two can play at that game.' he thought to himself, as he pressed his lips back to her neck and sucked her skin harshly causing her to moan his name.

Allen grinned against her skin, and his eyes looked up to see how shaken up she already was by a mere kiss, not that he wasn't so far behind either. Her eyes were closed, fluttering ever so slightly and her pink cheeks were tinged red, and he couldn't help but awe a little.

She was so beautiful, and the more undone she got the more beautiful she became, and yet she'd be ever more so in her Noah form.

Realizing that he'd stopped Road's eyes fluttered open, and looked down at him with a little pout.

"Allen…" she drawled his name seductively, causing the hairs at the back of his neck to stand to attention.

"What is it? Can't finish what you've started?" she teased in the same seductive voice, and gave his hair one sharp pull, ripping a hiss from his mouth.

' _She's a vixen._ ' He thought to himself. But once more, two can play at that game.

Allen huffed, and leaned in to her face, coming just a hair away from her lips.

"I'd love to." he said and gently traced his hand down to her leg, causing her breath hitch. His hands kept trailing down seductively, until they reached her knee and grasped it and wrapped in around his hips, putting them even closer.

Road hummed appreciatively, and Allen breathed into her face, and once more was awed at how beautiful she looked with her half lidded eyes, and swollen lips, and he couldn't help but smiled adoringly as he gently connected their lips once more.

* * *

End of mature content.

"Aww really!" shouted a familiar voice, coming from the doorway.

As quick as lightning Allen separated his lips from Road, and looked back at Wiseley who stood by the doorway, blushing furiously looking mortified and equally embarrassed.

"Seriously the kitchen? As if the fact that I can hear you from the other side of the house wasn't enough?" he barked annoyed, and very embarrassed, as he rubbed the side of his temple.

Road chuckled, and Allen smiled wickedly at the Noah of wisdom.

"You shouldn't listen to people's private conversation." he scolded.

Wiseley huffed and fixed his cravat nervously.

"What conversation, there was hardly even any breathing." he shot back, Allen grinned and Road rested the top of her head under his chin, not at all ashamed of their position or showing any signs of wanting to separate.

Road hummed, and continued to tease the poor Noah. "Wisely's just jealous he isn't getting a-"

"Yo, Wiseley do you know where-"

Tyki walked inside the kitchen and stopped dead on his track as his eyes quickly landed at both of them/

For a brief moment the four of them simply looked back and forth at each other, as if Tyki was trying to figure out what was going on, and Wisely looked at the ceiling mortified of the whole situation, meanwhile Road and Allen simply looked from each other to the others as if not knowing what to do.

The silence continued, until uddenly, Tyki gave out a low chuckle as he shook his head and lean on the doorframe and smile at them wickedly.

"You know I'm the Noah of pleasure, but you guys definitely beat me." he teased, causing Wiseley to sigh and shake his head as if annoyed that he was just like them.

"So what were you planning? Going at it in the middle of the kitchen, in the middle of a party? Even I would be impressed." The older Noah drawled with a chuckle, and this time Allen did blush a little and slowly separated himself from Road but only after Road pressed one tender kiss to his jaw.

"You know it's good Sheril is occupied, because the scolding would have been the scolding of a lifetime." he laughed, and Allen rolled his eyes and put his hands inside his pockets.

"Hahaha, very funny. I'm guessing there's a reason you've been looking for Wiseley? Well here he is." He gestured with his head at Wiseley.

"So now that you're both reunited, you can both leave." He shushed with his hands, Tyki looked at him with amusement while Wiseley looked at him annoyed.

He wasn't really going to get back to Road and continued where they left off, the spell had long be broken and now that he could think clearly he didn't want to get in trouble with the Earl, which he knew he would if Wiseley blab to him.

No, what he wanted was for Tyki's teasing to stop which he absolutely hated above anything else his family did. Sure he loved, and cared for Tyki but he had to admit he got under his skin a lot of the time.

"Not so fast boy, you and princes here are supposed to stay away from each other since you got caught last time at a very compromising position. Now I'm not saying you guys can't do whatever you want when I'm not looking, but if I see it then I have to be the adult and do something about it. Also, the Earl is looking for you. Something to do with a meeting you wanted to hold tonight?" Tyki Asked.

'Oh yes. Forgot all about that.' He thought to himself and fixed his vest and shirt to once more look more presentable.

"Allen! You got in trouble again?" Road whined annoyed, but Allen simply looked back at her but didn't respond to that.

In a way he did get into a bit of trouble.

"Completely forgot about that." He murmured, and Tyki chuckled.

"Clearly, but then again you were busy." He teased, and Allen's brows twitched.

"That's true, but oh well, better go see the Earl about that meeting." He said simply, not wanting to fight Tyki at the moment or explain anything to Road either.

Before any of the three of them could say anything, he swiftly turned and headed to the doorway, but before leaving he turned his head to look back at Road who was now standing beside a still embarrassed Wiseley.

He simply looked at her for a brief moment, and so without saying anything he left and exited the kitchen.

* * *

He knew the Earl was where he always was during parties. The second floor of the mansion, behind a set of heavy drapes, as if he didn't want anyone seeing his face. He always wondering why that was? It wasn't like he was deformed, or hideous to look at. He just looked like a regular English middle aged man, with a slight stubble and medium sized dark hair. There wasn't anything odd, or overly special about his appearance which made anyone who knew who he truly is wonder if he really is the Millennium earl, god's first disciple and the one who'll bring the three days of darkness. To him he just looked too human, and almost harmless with his bright and almost kind smile, which he supposed was one of the reasons he used his 'costume' to appear more vicious, but then again that only made him look silly.

His eyes looked around the hall, until they landed on the usual chair by the shadows where all he could see was the silhouette of the Earl's form, as well as his slit eyes that almost seemed to pop out of the darkness like a cat's.

Usually, Lulu stood by his side almost like a faithful guardian and protector, even though they all knew well that the Earl didn't need anyone looking over him. However, at the moment Lulu was nowhere to be seen and so Allen made his way to the chair with his hands deep inside his pockets, not at all nervous that he was getting closer and closer to one of the world's strongest being.

' _Strongest, yea right.'_ He scoffed at himself.

The Earl may seem all evil and sadistic as he preyed on man's weakness, but to the Noah clan -especially him- he'll always be a big softie. After all it was he who raised him

When he finally made it to the chair, he bowed his head slightly in formality.

"Lord Millennium." He greeted, and the Earl nodded his shadowed cover head in return.

"Allen, come sit beside me." He ordered with his usual sing song voice.

Allen simply complied, and sat on the wooden chair beside the Earl's, shrouding him in shadows much like Millennium.

For a little while both of them just sat there, looking at the empty hallway, as Allen didn't want to be the one to break the silence so he just waited for him to do it first.

"Lulu told me you wish to speak with me, but only if the others are present. Something to do with General Cross?" He asked intrigued, and Allen turned his head to look at him.

The Earl was wearing his usual yellow suit, and green striped shirt as well as his top hat. His hair was combed back as always, and his stubble was as always present.

He really did look so human, more than any of the Noahs, even himself, the only thing that gave him away was his bright amber slit eyes that were oddly just like his own.

Allen looked straight at the Earl's eyes, and for the thousands time since he became a Noah he wondered why they shared the same eyes? When he was young he thought a few members in their family also, shared the same slit eyes but then he learned that was not the case. Only the Earl, and himself had those piercing slit eyes and he always wondered why? Of course this wasn't the only similarity he shared with the Earl.

"That's right." He answered.

The Earl looked at him thoughtfully, and tilted his head. "You aren't going to tell me what it is he told you?" He asked already knowing the answer.

Allen smiled brightly, and shook his head. "I'd preferred everyone hear what I have to say, that way I don't have to repeat everything twice." He explained.

Millennium sighed. "But I'm ever so curious to know!" He practically whined, and Allen chuckled and shook his head.

"You're just gonna have to wait Millennium sama." He drawled, receiving a long whine from the Earl.

"It better be good then!" He huffed in indignation, turned his head away and crossed his arms like a child who didn't get his way.

A low chuckle emanated from Allen, as he looked at the Earl with amusement.

' _Yup definitely a big softie.'_ He mused.

Slowly the Millennium let out a deep breath, and looked back at him with slightly serious eyes.

"Though, I think anything that wretched general has to say must be interesting. But I wonder, why didn't you kill him?" He asked, his tone lowering from his usual sing song pitch to a more serious one.

Slit amber eyes, met slit amber eyes for a brief moment of silence.

Why didn't he kill him indeed? He wanted to say to himself that it was due to the secrets Cross held in regards to the fourteenth, but he knew there was more to the man than that. It was odd, but he felt like he knew who Cross was even though he'd never met him personally before. It was almost as if something was telling him not to kill the man.

Suddenly Allen shrugged, and looked back at the hallway. "You'll understand once I give you his message." He told him vaguely.

The Earl hummed, and simply remained silent and once more the two of them fell silent as they looked ahead of them, at nothing in particular.

* * *

So yes I'm shipping Allen and Road in this fic, so i look forward to that.

Anyways, a bit of a slow chapter, but i wanted to put a bit of an intermission seeing as the fic is going to get really fast and there won't be that many moments like these.

So yea next chapter the Noah family will choose what to do with Cross's message, so look forward to that.

Anyways, love all of you for favorite/following/ and reviewing! and see you next time


	7. Chapter 7: Noah of wisdom

Chapter 7

Noah of Wisdom

* * *

He knew everything because it was in his nature to know everything happening around him. And if he didn't know something, it was ingrained in him to learn whatever he didn't know and in the end no matter what, he always found out. However, there were times throughout his ancient life where no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find out certain things. Allen Walker was one of the very few individuals to whom this applied to.

As the Noah of wisdom, Wisely always took his responsibility very seriously, especially since he was probably the only one -except maybe the Earl- that didn't use violence to resolve everything or the only one that looked at the war with a more critical eye. Even Lulu, who preferred strategizing over fighting, was also prone to violence first ask questions later. In fact, even Road -who he saw as a sister and probably the most knowledgeable member of their family as to what's going on- is more prone to violence. Of course, there was nothing particularly wrong with that, every war requires soldiers and in every war there was violence, so everyone had to learn to fight… well everyone but him. Ever since he could remember he had always been on the sidelines watching and making suggestions to lord Millennium and the others, as well as finding out the enemies' secrets and intentions which was easier said than done despite his abilities.

So yes, he knew he wasn't a fighter and considered a weakling to a few members of the clan, but he was far from disposable. After all, every functioning war needs somebody to handle the brains of the group. That being said no one questioned him, or asked why he wasn't out there fighting the exorcists because they all knew his role in the family. However, Allen Walker was different.

The host of the fourteenth always insisted that he needed to learn to fight, arguing that somebody won't always be there to protect him. And though he did make a good argument, he always refused which annoyed Allen. Don't get them wrong, he got along quite well with the boy, more so than he expected with the host of the traitor. But still, not everything was perfect with their friendly relationship. He knew there was much to Allen Walker he didn't know or understand, and -once again- as the host of the Noah of wisdom it was his responsibility to find out everything he could about the enigma that was Allen. However impossible that proved to be.

Ever since he himself awoke as a Noah three years ago, he had been skeptical of Allen straight away. It wasn't so much because of his cocky persona, nor even his arrogance that got to the last nerve of a few in the clan. It was simply because unlike the others he could see much deeper than the exterior of the boy, he could see into his mind -well try at least.

Naturally, when he first met him three years ago he dug straight into his mind, seeing as he didn't know if he was an enemy or not. And so he invaded Allen's mind, not at all expecting to be more or less thrown out with such force that he had a migraine that lasted for almost a week.

After the pain and being bedridden for an entire week, and after his recovery, did he learn the hard lesson of never invading Allen's mind in such a way. Instead, he opted to use a more gentle tactic, as he softly touched his mind for no longer than a few seconds at a time, lest the odd barriers Allen had set up attacked him again. Of course, the process took much longer this way, and it was after almost a year that he began to get snippets into Allen's mind. They were odd, convoluted flashes that barely meant anything, but as time went on he began to make sense of the flashes. They weren't anything strange or out of the ordinary, just simple thoughts a regular teenage male would have as he tended to think about Road a lot to his great annoyance and embarrassment.

After the initial contact with his mind, He spent almost two years looking in Allen's head searching but not finding anything odd or out of the ordinary, and he almost gave up and stopped searching, but then a nagging voice at the back of his mind told him to keep looking. So he looked and looked and eventually he found it buried deep inside Allen's consciousness.

Buried inside his mind he could feel what he would explain as whispers of the fourteenth. At first, he looked upon it petrified as his mind brushed the fourteenth for a brief second. Of course, Nea was very much asleep, his mind resembling a great rumbling beast that bared his fangs if someone got too close to it while it slept.

Now, never let it be said he's a coward but he had to admit that the fourteenth scared him to the bone. He knew firsthand what that man could do, and the merciless way he treats those he sees as enemies. After all, he is the Noah of wisdom, every time he reincarnated he always retains his memories, and his human side would always meld with his Noah side straight away. That being said he has the fortunate, and unfortunate gift of remembering everything including the way in which the fourteenth -someone he trusted- killed him without mercy, and caused so much Damage to his memories that it took him thirty-five years to reincarnate. After the merciless way he destroyed his mind back then, he wondered how he still managed to retain all of his memories. But regardless he just had to accept that he did still have his memories. And from those memories and experience, he knew he was right to fear the fourteenth because he knew -unlike the rest, and even the Earl- knew that Nea is no regular Noah. No. he knew Nea was and IS one half of the Millennium Earl. And he feared what would happen if the fourteenth returned once more, something he knew wasn't so far fetched seeing as he could feel Nea gaining consciousness slowly.

"Wisely. Earth to Wisely!"

Wisely's eyes snapped open and looked around, seeing a pair of thirteen eyes on him.

They were in the meeting hall as per Allen's request, and the Earl's order. And he -being a responsible member of the clan- came as soon as he heard about the meeting, and seeing as there weren't anyone else around his mind began to wonder and doze off as it usually did. Deep in his mind, he didn't so much as notice that everyone had already arrived, and were waiting for him to rejoin the physical realm.

"-er- sorry." He apologized, feeling a soft blush tinged his cheeks.

"It's quite alright." The Earl chuckled, and Wisely's eyes turned to look at him.

He was wearing his usual costume, and top hat and by his side floated Lero.

"Can we get this meeting underway?" Asked Allen from the other side of the table, instantly causing the others to look back at him.

He was seated on his usual spot -Nea's usual spot- right across the Millennium Earl, on the other end of the table. That particular position on the table was one of power and high ranking but they all knew it really wasn't. Allen does not hold any authority over them, nor does he have a higher rank than them either. No one in the Noah family apart from the millennium earl outranks anyone. The reason why Allen got to sit on the opposite side of the table was merely because there wasn't any other spot for him to sit at so they had to give him that spot. All of them unaware of the true meaning behind it.

"Why on such a rush today?" Asked Devit from across the table, who was leaning back on his chair and cleaning his teeth disgustingly with his nails.

"I'm not in a rush, I merely don't want to remain seating here looking at each other's faces," Allen grumbled, gaining a chuckle from Tyki

"Are we all really so awful look at?" He asked.

Allen sighed and rested his chin on top of his hand and looked at Tyki with boredom but didn't say anything, as he kept looking at the older Noah.

"Allen's right Tyki. I'm ever so interested to learn why we've all been called here this evening!" Millennium sang, and Wisely alongside a few other nodded in agreement.

All others still had no idea why Allen had called a meeting, but he of course already knew. General Cross spoke with Allen and gave him a proposition of some sort. He knew this from reading Lulu's thoughts, but he couldn't find out anything more simply because she didn't know anything more than that. All of this made him even more curious to know what exactly Cross told Allen, because as he recalled Cross knew the fourteenth well and was one of his few supporters so that made him nervous.

Allen still doesn't know anything about the fourteenth and they wanted to keep it that way for as long as they could.

"As I understand it, you spoke with the General Cross Marian?" Asked the Earl, bringing everyone to attention as they all looked at Allen in shock, except for Wisely of course who already knew.

Allen raised his head from his hand and rested his elbows on the table to look straight at the Earl, disregarding the others.

"Indeed." He responded simply, and a few sounds of surprise emanated from a few.

"He sought me out today at the Turf Tavern. We had a game of poker –I won of course- and then he told me the weirdest thing you see." He drawled and stopped there, and looked at everyone with a smirk.

Wisely's eyes looked around the room with amusement as he saw a few of them looking st Allen intently, while a few were clearly annoyed. Like Sheril who was glaring at him, while Allen looked back with amusement.

The older Noah opened his mouth after a little while, but before he could scold Him Allen spoke up again.

"You see he told me that there's a high chance the exorcists have the heart -"

Suddenly a loud bang emanated from the table, cutting Allen off and everyone's head jerked to the side to look at the source.

Skin was standing with his fisted hand against the table, and glaring at Allen, who looked back confused.

Everyone stared at the brute trying to figure out what was wrong with him, meanwhile Wisely wormed his way inside his mind without any finesse. He knew Skin would never detect him, he wasn't the brightest of individuals after all.

Once inside his mind Wisely got his answer straight away.

Having been a weak minded human before he became a Noah, he found it difficult to suppress his Noah side, more than any of them did, even more than Tyki in fact who was at the moment shocked to hear the exorcist have the heart but wasn't showing it. Meanwhile, Skin thoughts were all over the place as his Noah memories tried to make sense of the information.

"What are we doing here talking about it? We should head to the Black order and destroy them once and for all!" He growled.

Everyone in the room simply stared at Skin, and few of them in agreement with him, and as Wisely touched everyone's minds he noticed that everyone's Noah's instincts were at the forefront. It wasn't at all a shock to him, he felt that stirring of his ancient memories that tempted him to forget all reason and simply look for the heart. A temptation that was powerful but not at all controlling, and besides, he always preferred the more subtle route.

Allen let out a long sigh, and everyone turned their heads to look back at him once more.

"I want to do the same thing, I wish we could just target the Black order. In fact, I came very close to just killing Cross and going to the Black order headquarters and retrieve the heart by myself." He hummed thoughtfully and Wisely noticed that everyone was shocked and indignant of the fact that Allen didn't kill the general.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't shocked. Allen isn't one to simply let a prey go so easily. He was like a cat in fact. He loved playing with his prey and then taking it out of its misery as soon as they no longer provided him with further amusement. This amusement of mankind's suffering was something all Noah shared, but not all of them shared their need to take it as far Allen and a few selected others. For example, he preferred killing his prey swiftly, and quickly, and sure sometimes he enjoyed causing them suffering before their death but that was on rare occasions.

"Why didn't you?" Asked Mightra, who was seating to Allen's left side. Asking a question all of them were wondering themselves.

The room fell quiet as Allen leaned back on his chair, placing his arm behind the armrest and tapping his fingers against the table with the other hand. Not at all fazed by everyone's scrutinizing gazes.

"Because retrieving the heart requires a great deal of subtlety and finesse. The truth is we can't simply set the Black order in flames, because we don't know the exact the location of the heart and that is problematic." he declared.

A few of them looked at Allen confused, mainly Skin and the twins who didn't know the meaning of subtlety even if it hit them like a train. Meanwhile though, Wisely was impressed. He was glad to see that some of the pointers he'd given Allen in the past had actually stuck, and hadn't at all been a waste of his time. Of course not at all or then understood that, but those who did easily understood Allen's decision.

Lulu hummed and Wisely turned to look at her already knowing what she was going to say.

"If we destroy the Black order once and for all, whoever has the heart could escape a mist the chaos, and then we'll have to begin our search anew," Lulu said, putting the piece together.

"precisely. Which is the reason why I didn't kill Cross. You see, he proposed to help us infiltrate the Black order to retrieve the heart." He said as a matter of factly as if he hadn't just said the impossible. And if they hadn't all been shocked before, now they were.

An exorcist -no scratch that- a general of the Black order, much less Cross Merian wanted to help them? Them? The ones who've wanted his head for so long not just because he's a general, but because he was and is one of the fourteenth supporters, which made him dangerous and hated by the entire family. That being said just the notion that he'd be willing to help was ridiculous. Even Wisely who was always on top of a conversation, and knowing exactly what was going to be said, and the outcomes, was for once taken out of his element.

"Wait for what?" He asked. His confused expression almost comical.

Everyone in the room was looking at Allen in an equal amount of shock, even the Earl with his ever-grinning face appeared shocked of the revelation. However, Allen looked at them all as if he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

"It's a bit of a long story, but basically he proposed to help us infiltrate the black order by getting one of us inside and masquerade as an exorcist." He explained, but everyone was still equally confused and bewildered.

"Though he did say he doesn't know if the Order has the heart, he just said that it's possible." He mused, and that seemed to snap a few of them out of their shock.

"And you're trusting the words of such as Marian Cross?" Asked Sheril disgusted, while Skin and Mercyme nodded in agreement. Even he was tempted to agree. How could they trust Cross's words or anything he said for that matter?

Allen smirked in amusement. "He was very persuasive, and besides I don't think Cross would put himself in such danger to just tell me a lie? It just doesn't seem his style." He chuckled at the end, clearly referring to some inside joke. However, the rest did not find it at all amusing.

"You're too naive boy." Tyki sighed, all amusement set aside as well as his usual banter.

"Naive or not, lie or not, are we really going to give up this opportunity?" He asked, waving away all of their comments like flies which got under a few of their skin.

Everyone stared at Allen, all of them he could tell were annoyed. Wisely shook his head. He got along well with Allen, but he had to admit the boy is as arrogant as his predecessor. He carried himself and saw everything the same way the fourteenth saw it, with a narrowed view of things. He believed himself far too untouchable due to his abilities -which he was to some point- to care what others thought of him, nor taking anyone's advice, thinking that he knew best. This narrow-minded view was dangerous to anybody, and one of the reasons Nea betrayed their clan. He thought he knew best out of all of them, and that he didn't need anybody to help him achieve his goals no matter how many times they warned him of the repercussion of his actions. And now he sat here looking at history repeat itself, only this time he hoped it wouldn't be the same.

The room remained silent, none of them seeming to want to speak, lest they start a fight, and god knows how that would go. No, instead they all waited for the Earl to say something as they all looked straight at him.

Millennium hummed thoughtfully. "So Cross wishes to help us? Very interesting."

The room remained quiet as the Earl rested his elbows on the table, and pressed the tips of his fingers together in a thoughtful manner.

Indeed it was interesting that Cross wanted to help them. He didn't know much about the general, but -once more- he did know he was the fourteenth leading supporters. There was only one explanation as to why he wanted to help them. In some way shape or form, the fourteenth was somehow involved in this. Weather Cross wanted to bring back the fourteenth, or was following orders the fourteenth had left him, he couldn't know, but he did know that Cross was playing a dangerous game.

Suddenly the Earl swung his hands up in the air, snapping everyone to attention. "That is funny, but also quite helpful." He giggled, and everyone's mouth fell open in shook except for Wisely, Road and Allen as he looked on with his usual arrogant smirk.

"Did you just say helpful?" Asked Devit who was now leaning on the table, and looking at the Earl utterly confused.

More confusion ensued as the Earl shook his head up and down almost comically.

"B-But how can we trust an exorcist? Much less a general, much less Cross Marian?" Sheril guffawed.

"Because he proposed to help us." Answered the Earl simply, and once more everyone stared at him like he'd just grown another head. And once more it was Sheril who responded seeing as everyone was too confused to say anything.

"But how can we know if Cross Marian isn't trying to play us? How do we know if he isn't under the Black order's command?" Asked Sheril as if he was trying to make the Earl see reason.

He himself could see Sheril's unease, as well as everyone else,'s but his concerns, were different, and he suspected so were Road's.

Slowly, Wisely's eyes turned to look at Road. She was sitting back on her chair with her arms crossed in front of her and looking at the Earl thoughtfully, and with a hint of worry upon her eyes only he could notice.

Feeling his eyes on her, Road turned her eyes to look at him with the same worried eyes.

' _What do you think?_ ' He asked her, speaking through thoughts knowing full well she could hear him.

Every Noah has to some extent has telepathic abilities, but it isn't easily achieved. For him, it was second nature, but for others like Road, it took years of practice to learn the skill, something she achieved with his help. And Road -unlike the others- needed that ability in order to be able to twist people's minds in her dimension by using their deepest fears.

Road sighed. ' _I'm not sure yet, but the moment we both feared is slowly approaching.'_

Wisely took in a sharp breath, and both he and Road turned their eyes to look at Allen. He was still looking at the Earl and awaiting his response, his smirk still plastered on his lips.

Wisely didn't hate Allen, he was fond of him almost like a brother, but on the other hand, the Noah inside him couldn't forget what the fourteenth had done to him. What happened the last time he trusted him.

His fingers curled into fists under the table, and he had to repress the need to glare at Allen murderously.

' _It isn't Allen's fault._ ' Road said soothingly, and Wisely let out a sigh and unclenched his fingers.

He knew it wasn't.

' _I know, but that's beside the point. We need to focus on what's at hand right now._ ' His eyes turned away from Allen to look at Road.

' _Cross wants the fourteenth, there's no doubt about it._ ' He declared, and Road nodded.

' _And it seems that lord Millenium is going to walk straight into his trap._ '

Once more Road nodded.

' _Should we warn him?_ ' He asked.

Road just looked at him for a few seconds thinking of her answers. 'I _think we should see how things unfold, then we can best Cross at his own game. I won't let Nea return._ '

Wisely's eyes shoot up, surprised but then narrowed. He couldn't know if she was saying the truth. He remembered that Road supported Nea during the first few years of his rebellion against the family. Of course, she never turned her back on the family, and as soon as Nea's vendetta turned violent towards the family she left without another thought. But the fact that she once supported Nea made it difficult to trust her completely. Of course, he knew she'd never hurt him or anyone in their clan, but that didn't mean she shared the same views as them. When she had first taken Nea's side she was young, and that trust for him was born out of a childish love for the man that blinded her from seeing the monster he became. When she grew out of that she told him she didn't see things the same way Nea did anymore, but something told him to this day that that might not have been the truth.

' _Nobody can be trusted._ ' He hummed to himself, closing his mind to Road and looked away from her, and instead answered Sheril's question, putting his plan into motion.

"Because Cross Marian is as loyal to the black order as any of us are." He mused, and Sheril turned his confused eyes on him.

"What'd you mean?" He asked,

"He means that Cross may pretend, and genuinely care for his fellow exorcists, but in reality, he's as loyal to the order as any of us are to it," Road responded this time, and everyone's head turned to look at her this time.

No one of them really knew Cross Marian, wisely didn't even think Millennium fully remembered Cross's alliance with Nea due to him forgetting most of his past. So all the others knew about Marian -apart from he and Road- is that he's a general and needed to be dealt with. They didn't know anything else.

"Why though? He's a general? Why isn't he loyal to the order?" Asked Tyki this time, sounding genuinely interested to know the answer. However, before he could say anything Road spoke up.

"That's a long story Tyki."

"Indeed." Added Wisely, not wanting to give anything else away. Having the rest of the clan unaware of the secrets of Nea may protect them in the future, so keeping the full story from them was a kindness.

Wisely turned his head to look at Millenium. "So who are we going to send to the Black order?" He asked, trying to change the topic before the others could speculate and ask more questions.

The Earl tapped a finger against the table thoughtfully but didn't say anything. Instead, it was Allen who spoke up.

"I'll go, Cross came to me after all so it's fitting that I'd be the one to go." He declared.

For a moment he wanted to pat himself on the back for deducing that Allen would ay just that -not that it was that hard to guess- but instead, he imitated everyone and looked at Allen and said nothing. He was going to follow Road's advice, just let things unfold and they'll figure things out as they go.

"You?" Scoffed Sheril, not at all hiding his dislike of the younger Noah as his words dripped with scorn.

"Why not?" Asked Allen, not at all fazed by Sheril, seeing as he was probably accustomed of being spoken to that way by Sheril.

"If we are going to do this crazy scheme, then there's no way you'll be going. Someone much more fit for the job it'll go, like Lulu or Wisely, or even Tiki would be a better choice over you." He scoffed, and Wisely straightened his back at the mention of his name while Tyki looked at Sheril offended.

There was no way he was going to be sent to the Black Order. He may be intelligent, and he could probably outwit most exorcists but if things turned dire then there was no way he could get out alive. And besides, Cross wanted Allen to go, that was obvious.

Tiky made an annoyed sound snapping him out of his thoughts.

"What are you trying to say? That I can't b-"

"Tyki can't go, nor Lulu or Wisely. It has to be me." Allen exclaimed and Tyki fell quiet, as everyone looked at the other white-haired boy in shock. Even Millennium -Wisely could feel- was shocked, and confused.

' _Cross has already told him something._ ' He thought to himself.

Naturally, he already suspected that Cross had revealed something to him, knowing full well it was the only way Allen would let him live, let alone deliver his message to the Earl. It did make him nervous that Allen was getting closer and closer to learning the truth about Nea, and thus for Nea to return but at the same time he knew that needed to happen one day. Allen couldn't remain oblivious forever.

"Why?" Asked the Earl, his voice resonating through the quiet room calling everyone to attention, and to look straight at Allen. Meanwhile, Allen looked unfazed, but as Wisely brushed his mind against his gently he could tell he was on edge, as well as something else he couldn't place. Excitement maybe?

"Because I'm the only one that can come out alive if things take a turn for the worse -apart from you lord Millennium of course. Also, I'm the only one with a converted innocence and the only one that can pass of as an exorcist so I think I'm the only one fit for this job." He stated as a matter of fact, which again only annoyed a couple of them.

For a little while Millennium simply looked at Allen, and didn't say anything, almost as if he was studying him and deciding whether to let him go or not.

The silence remained for what felt like forever, as the Earl and Allen's eyes locked, even Sheril remained quiet and allowed the Earl to make his decision. A decision Wisely already knew what it was going to be.

"You'll go to the Black order and retrieve the heart?" Asked the Earl breaking the silence.

"I will."

More silence. Slowly the Earl leaned in the table and rested his elbows against the table.

Without any humor or his usual singsong tone, the Earl spoke again.

"You're not hiding anything else are you?" He asked, and for the first time Allen lost his cocky smile and his brows furrowed.

He knew very well that Allen was hiding something, he and Road knew that. It was hard to notice that in the first place. No, that wasn't hard to figure out, what was hard to figure out is whether Allen would tell the truth or not. He knew he was close to the Earl just like he as Road were almost like his children in a way, but with Allen it was different. He didn't know why but the Earl cared deeply for Allen to the point that it seemed like he was actually really his father, and Allen also respected the Earl to the point that he behaved differently around him. Less arrogantly, almost as if he cared what the Earl would think of him, so he clearly cared for him deeply, but would that be enough?

Unconsciously, Wisely held his breath until finally, Allen spoke.

"I'm not hiding anything my lord Millennium." He lied, and not only did he lie but he did it so flawlessly that it almost convinced even him.

"Then you'll be the one I send to the order." He declared, his voice -wisely could tell- sounding a little strange.

With the decision made Allen's lips quirked up into a bright smile, however, Sheril was not at all pleased.

"But-"

"The decision is final." The Earl cut Sheril off, and the outraged Noah simply huffed and sat back on his chair and didn't say anything further.

The Millennium's orders were always final, and though he didn't often order them around when he did they knew never to question him. The Earl always knew best, and anyways they've been tasked to help him and stand by his side no matter what.

The Earl leaned back on his chair and continued to look at Allen.

"This is my order Allen, one that cannot be broken. You will infiltrate the Black order with Crosse's help, and you'll -seemingly to all around you- will be exorcists without ties to our family. This must be done in order for this plan to work. Therefore, I hereby command everyone present here today to attack Allen if you come across him in the battlefield." He commanded.

And for the first time Wisely and Road looked at him in shock. He expected the Earl to send Allen, but he didn't expect him to order everyone to turn against Allen!

A trickle of sweat fell down his forehead, and he turned his eyes to look at everyone else. Tyki, Road, Jasdevi, Lulu, Mercym, and Fiddler were looking at the Earl in equal shook, some more than others like Road who was looking at the Earl like he'd just given Allen a death sentence. However, the others were looking either pleased, or not showing any particular emotion. Lastly Wisely looked at Allen.

He was seating stock still, his expression not betraying anything as he simply stared back at the Earl.

"And as for you Allen, you're allowed to defend yourself and fight us, thirteen apostles, if we do come across you. However, you're not to use your Noah powers, only your tinted innocence shall you use. Furthermore, you cannot kill any one of our family members and they cannot likewise kill you either. Doing so will be considered an act of treason." The Earl ordered.

The tension in the room dissipated as they all let out the breath they didn't know they were holding.

Good, they weren't being ordered to turn against Allen. For a moment there he really thought the Earl had realized that Allen was lying, not to mention that he really did not want to fight Allen. He was incredibly powerful and he doubted that even most of them pit against him would win, heck even Millennium would have a tough time, and Allen knew that.

"Anything else I should be mindful of?" asked Allen, back with his usual cocky smile, and this time Millennium didn't take his time to answer.

"When, and if you recover the heart I want you to kill general Cross Marian, and then destroy the branch you're assigned to as well as everyone in it. And if you don't recover the heart, and you find that the heart is not in their possession, then I want you to destroy and kill everyone all the same." He commanded, and Wisely as well as everyone looked back at the Millennium Earl in shock, but excitement as well.

Not once in seven thousand years had they mounted such an attack on the exorcists, in fact, they've been laying low and waiting for the best moment to strike and seeing as they were all finally together he guessed now was a good time as any.

From the other side of the table, a low menacing chuckle emanated from Allen that made his spine curled.

Slowly Wisely turned his head and looked at the other white-haired boy. He was looking straight at the Earl with a wicked smile upon his lips, and near-crazed eyes at the prospect that he'd finally be allowed to use the full range of his powers

"As you command Lord Millennium."

And with those words Wisely already felt a migraine fester in his skull.

* * *

It's been a while, but I've been very busy with school so I can't really update as much as I'd like, but anyways here's the chapter.

Also, before i leave i'm probably going to change the rating to M for next chapter just so everyone's aware of that, but don't worry i'll still put a warning and section divisions for all those who don't wish to read M content.

So see you next chapter :)


	8. Chapter 8: The Black order

Chapter 8

The Black order

* * *

His eyes opened slowly and looked out the window of his room. It was day out, as it usually was in the ark -not that it couldn't be night time either, just that the Earl liked it to remain day time at all times. Something he tended to hate.

The light rays hit his face, and he grumbled his displeasure and turned the other way, giving the window his back and snuggled into his pillow that wasn't really his pillow at all.

Road was sleeping soundly in front of him with absolutely no clothes, and just the expensive fabric of his blanket to cover her, not that she would care either way nor neither did he. He too was wearing no clothes and only had the blanket to cover the lower part of his body seeing as Road had taken most of it.

A smile formed on his lip as he looked at Road's cute flushed, sleeping face, and snuggled his nose into her hair and wrapped his arms around her bare torso.

She had spent the night with him after the meeting concluded, and after everyone had either left to do their own thing or gone to sleep. Of course, this wasn't the first time they've been together, and it wouldn't be the last so the others were used to it by now except for Sheril and the Earl, who thought that they were both too young for such things, even though they were far from being children. He's nineteen, an adult in his own right, and Road -well Road was even older than the rest of the Noahs except for the Earl. So both of them were far from being children, and they could make their own decisions even though the others still treated them like children, especially Tyki.

The Noah of pleasure always took every opportunity to tease them both, even though he was one of the few who actually supported them being together. The rest either didn't like them being together, or they simply didn't care like Tryde. He honestly appreciated that some of them supported their relationship, but at the same time he wished they wouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

He sighed, and burrowed his nose closer into her shoulder and Road gave out a soft sigh. He loved these little moments together, and he wished they would end… but at the same time.

His eyes shifted to the far wall, and looking through Road's thick hair he noted the time on the case clock that stood against the wall. It was eleven, incredibly late for one such as Sheril, Lulu and pretty much any respectable member of their family, but incredibly early for the likes of Jasdevi and Skinn who woke up in the evening to prowl the street in search of exorcists. He and Road, on the other hand, were a bit of in between. They woke up late, but not as late as Jasdevi nor as early as the others, they woke sometime in the afternoon to Lulu's great displeasure, as well as Wisely who thought them lazy. Still, though they didn't care, and usually they sleept into the afternoon but today was different. He needed to go search for Cross and begin his new task. A task he was more than happy to begin.

Sliding closer, and putting his lips against Road's ear he pressed a tender kiss on her soft skin.

Slowly she began to regain consciousness, and stir on her spot meanwhile he continues to kiss her neck.

"Up already?" she asked, her voice laced with amusement.

"It's late. Gotta start the day early," he mumbled between kisses, and Road chuckled.

"Who's this new Allen I see here?" She asked, turning her head to look at him, stopping Allen's slow administration to her neck.

"Perhaps I kidnapped him in the middle of the night as you were sleeping, and I disguised myself as him?" he teased.

"Oh? How did you manage to do that?" she asked following along with him.

His smile broadened, and he raised his hand and pulled her hair out of her eyes to look at them both.

"Perhaps if you hadn't been snoring so loudly, you mighta noticed." he joked, looking at her completely serious.

Her reaction was instantaneous, as she completely turned and grabbed his pillow from under his head, and whacked him with it. Keeping it on his face, as if trying to choke with it, meanwhile, he couldn't stop laughing.

"I. Do. Not. SNORE!" She growled, and lifted the pillow up one last time and brought it down on his face one last time with so much force that she tore the poor pillow in half. Meanwhile, Allen's fit of laughter intensified

"Yea you do! If I hadn't known better I would'd have thought it was Skinn who was sleeping beside me!" he laughed loudly, his eyes closed tightly shut, lest he got some of the feathers in his eye, and awaited the next blow. However, the next blow never came.

Slowly, and tentatively he opened one eye and his arms braced for a surprise smack that never came.

Road was seating beside him, with the pillow covering her modesty and with her mouth open in a gasp.

"What did you just say?" she asked, shadows clouding her eyes making her look terrifying.

Allen's eyes widened, and he shook his head from side to side comically. "No, no, no I take that back, I said you're beautiful!" he stammered but Road continued to glare at him with the same terrifying look.

Last time he had done something to anger her, she had trapped him in her dream dimension for a week with barely anything to eat or drink. She often did that to him when they argued, but last time was definitely one of the worse occasions and just the thought of it made him shuddered. Never let it be said that Road isn't terrifying. Cute innocent girl appearance or not, she could be incredibly evil.

"Really? Because that's not what I heard." she murmured, and Allen gulped.

Both of them looked at each other, Road like she was looking at her prey, while Allen looked at her like a rodent about to be swooped from his hideout.

He really, really didn't want to piss her off, and he really, really, really didn't want to stand before the Earl and embarrassingly explain why he had been gone for an entire week. Not to mention that he didn't have that type of time at the moment. He had an exorcist to find, but at the same time he couldn't say anything, and risk angering her further. So all he could really do was stay quiet, and wait.

Road continued to glare at him until she narrowed her eyes and Allen knew that his end was near. However, that never came and instead, she sighed and slumped herself back on the mattress.

"I'll forgive you. For now," she added quickly when she saw his smile return. "And just because you've got places to be," she said sadly. Sad that he'd be gone, and that she didn't get to punish him.

Allen lowered his hands, and cocked his head to one side and looked at her inquisitively.

"You don't want me to leave?" he asked, all amusement gone.

"Of course not. You may be arrogant, annoying, and a complete utter idiot, to the point that I don't understand why I put up with you. But still, you're my annoying, arrogant idiot, and I'll miss you." she pouted.

Allen looked at her in shook, but then he snapped himself out of that shock and his eyes shut closed for a brief moment, then he gave out a deep rumbling chuckle. She rarely ever admitted that she would miss him.

"Is that so?" he asked, with a smirk that he knew most would see as arrogance, but to Road he knew she liked that cocky smirk of his.

Slowly, Road leaned in and, getting closer and closer until their noses were almost touching. "Yes." she almost whispered and lowered her lips to his.

Their lips connected softly, almost tenderly which was odd from her. Often time their kisses were anything but tender, nothing about Road was tender or sweet. She was demanding, and rough with everything she did and love was no different, which is why he was confused but he went along with it.

Tentatively she opened her lips, and Allen not wanting to disturb the tender moment slowly pressed his tongue inside her mouth in order to deepen the kiss. He didn't dominate the kiss as he usually did, instead, he melded his tongue with her's in a sensual dance. Both of their eyes were gently closed, and their noses brushed each other gently.

He wasn't used to this gentleness, but he found he could learn to enjoy it.

Suddenly a loud knock emanated from the door, and Road almost jumped off of the mattress as they both turned their faces to look at the closed door.

"You both better be awake and not doing what I think you're doing!" Sheril's voice growled from behind the door, and Allen wanted to groan.

"Guess fun's over." He smirked turning his head to look at her, both their eyes connecting.

He didn't want to leave her behind, and she likewise didn't want to let him leave. Perhaps love was too strong a word to describe their relationship, but they both couldn't deny that they cared for each other. He'd known her since he was a small boy, and though he found her annoying the first few years he'd known her, in time he realized that life in the family without her would be quite dull.

"Fun's never over." she sang, and brought her lips closer and planted a small kiss on his nose and with that she let go of his hands and rose off of him and went to the edge of the bed.

He watched her with his head resting on his open palm as she rose, and the bed sheets slid off her body slowly, falling to the floor.

With her back to him, she just stood there as tendrils of black smoke overcame her body and in the blink of an eye, she stood in front of him fully clothed, with her usual dress.

"Are you just going to lay there all day staring at my back?" she asked teasingly, as she turned to face him.

"That was the plan," he smirked, and Road smirked back.

"ALLEN WALKER COME OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!" yelled Sheril, banging his fist on the door.

This time Allen groaned, and flopped his head back on his pillow, meanwhile Road laughed.

"Better get going before he blows up the entire Ark." she teased and without looking back, she made her way to the door and slowly opened it.

Allen lifted his head and looked at her as she disappeared through the crack of the door, and glared at Sheril for a brief moment, who also, glared back at him murderously.

The door closed, and Allen slumped his head back on the mattress once more.

He hated Sheril, he hated everything about him ever since he was a small boy, and Sheril hated him in return simply because he is the host of the fourteenth, and now because he was dating his adoptive daughter. When he was young he'd often get into fights with him, fights that either Tyki had to stop or even worse the Earl. Usually, he'd get scolded, and grounded for arguing with Sheril, only for him to do it again. But now, he saw that the older Noah wasn't worth his time, to his great annoyance. When he was young he was more temperamental and hot-headed, and he still was to some extent, but after he grew out of his phase and after he met Wisely who taught him to use his head a little more he began to calm down. Which was great, because he put the entire clan through horrible grief by destroying things around him in fits of anger. He didn't do that anymore, but sometimes he had almost been driven to that point, but now that he was leaving for who knows how long, he could finally relax and take a vacation away from the clan.

A knock emanated from the door startling him from his thoughts, and raising his head from the mattress.

"What?" he growled, hopping that it wasn't Sheril coming back to scold him for an hour.

But it wasn't Sheril this time. This time, it was a deep, strange voice that didn't belong to anyone in the clan. "I got a letter for you Noah sama." the Akuma said gently as if it was afraid to anger him.

Allen looked at the door confused. ' _A letter? What bloody letter?'_ he thought to himself.

They didn't get letters, no one in the clan ever mailed letters to the others, and that was unlikely to ever change so who did the letter come from?

Unwrapping himself from his sheets, he rose from the mattress and walked to his dresser where he took out a pair of trousers and slowly slid them on. He left his chest bare and went to the door and opened it.

One of their Akuma servants, the ones that looked human with a star on their forehead, stood in front of the door holding out a letter with its head bowed.

"Who did this letter come from?" he asked, taking the letter from the Akuma, not at all fazed by the trapped human soul of the monstrous thing, nor the usual awakening of his eye every time he looked at an Akuma.

He honestly didn't know why his eye did that, or where he got the scar, but when he had first laid eyes on an Akuma he had been terrified, to say the least, but now it annoyed him. It only proved more and more that he wasn't really like the others.

"I do not know Noah sama. Another lesser Akuma approached a level four and asked him to deliver it to you by name. Said it was important." the Akuma explained, and Allen looked at the letter and turned it to see if there was a name written on it, but it was blank.

"You're dismissed," he said simply, not even looking back as he shut the door on the Akuma's face.

Who could have mailed him? There was, of course, one individual he could think of, but at the same time -how did he manage it?

Looking down at the letter as if it was an enigma, he walked to the centre of the room and tore the golden seal off and took out the letter and read.

The words were beautifully slanted, and written with a stark red pen. However, the words themselves made him flare his nostrils in annoyance.

" _Good job brat, you even managed to convince me. Meet me by the European branch's forest at 9 pm tonight. Come on foot, don't use the ark. We don't want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves."_

 _Cross._

Allen growled and crumbled the letter in his fist and turned it into ash. How did he even know what had happened? How did Cross know so much? He didn't know, but it was starting to worry him, and greatly annoy him.

Even by letter, and mere writing he still managed to annoy him. Cross was just too damn cocky, arrogant, and -he had to admit- too smart for his own good. In all his time as a Noah, he had never met anyone like him before, and that put him out of his element. But then again, that only made the chase more enjoyable.

He opened his hand, and let the burnt ash fall on to the ground and walked to the piano on the corner of the room. He had left his white shirt on top of the lid when he'd undressed last night, and seeing as he didn't want to look for another one he grabbed it and slid it on.

It was a bit crumpled up, but it'll do for now. Either way, if their plan worked then he'd be wearing different clothes very soon.

With his shirt now on, there was only one last thing to get. His eyes drifted to the keys of the piano and landed on a red ribbon. He lifted his hand and made to grab it, but before he did his eyes landed on the sheet of music laying on the keys.

It was a simple composition, nothing too fancy, just something he had written for Road. He had almost finished it, and he had meant to show it to her last time, but one thing lead to another and he never got the chance. Now the piece will remain unfinished until his return…or he could take him with him.

Changing the trajectory of his hand he grabbed the sheet, folded it and tucked it inside his pocket, and then he grabbed the ribbon and tied his hair back.

Now ready, he walked to the centre of the room once more and opened a doorway that would lead him to Europe. And so, with nothing more than what he was carrying he walked through the doorway, not saying his goodbyes to anyone, knowing full well that Road wasn't expecting to see him again for who knows how long. She always did know everything.

Once on the other side, the doorway closed and disappeared.

* * *

It was dark out, damp, and mosquitos flew around him, so basically he was incredibly annoyed and angry at the whole situation.

When he had stepped out of the ark he had walked to the town near the European branch and made his way inside the local tavern. The tavern itself was just a dingy room that served the lowest quality of alcohol and only had a few poker tables. Basically just the perfect tavern for him. He had played poker with the locals to pass the time and beat all of them -of course- but it didn't prove to amuse him, it was just a way to pass the time.

When the sun began to set, and nighttime came, he exited the tavern much to everyone relief and made his way to the very forest everyone recommended him not to go into, saying that it was haunted and that those that ever went in only came back with missing memories and sometimes not at all. Of course, he knew those were just a bunch of wives tales meant to scare away any who approached the headquarters, and a way to remain anonymous to the locals. However, he was far from a local and far from being a regular human so he'd be fine. He was mostly right.

Upon entering the forest and walking for what felt like hours, he'd bee swarmed by mosquitoes and gotten his foot stuck in a few puddles filled with mud, and to top it off it had begun to rain ever so slightly. So yes, he was absolutely miserable and incredibly annoyed to the point that he was fuming.

Damn Cross for telling him not to use the ark. Damn the Black order for being so deep inside a forest. And damn the Earl's orders to remain as a stupid human, and not allowed to use his powers. Honestly, how could humans tolerate walking everywhere? How could anyone survive without the use of the Ark? He honestly couldn't know, but he did know that if he didn't calm down he might end up burning everything to a crisp.

Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and kept walking down the forest. He had to compose himself and get used to his current situation if he wanted to achieve anything.

' _Just think about Cross dead.'_ he kept telling himself after he nearly destroyed the entire forest after walking into a cobweb and almost swallowing the spider.

' _How far is this thing anyway?_ ' he asked himself, stopping and looking ahead but not seeing anything but trees, and bushes.

He was definitely in the middle of nowhere, and what's worse he had no idea where he was, which wasn't odd. It was one of his weaknesses, his lack of direction which caused him to get lost often. Though, before when he had gotten lost he had more or less found his way back, but now he was utterly lost, and had no clue as to where north or south were due to how dark it was. And not just that, he was lost and near an exorcist headquarters, that probably already knew he was there, and that thought put him on edge even more.

"Lost?" asked a familiar deep voice, and Allen froze on the spot and turned around.

Cross was standing by a tree, with a cigarette upon his smiling lips and his hat covering half of his face.

For a brief moment, Allen was overcome with the immense need to simply just kill the man, and wipe that smile off his face, but then he heard a voice in his head that sounded a lot like Wisely telling him to just relax, and think about the heart.

"I never get lost," he growled defiantly, and Cross snorted and once more he was overcome with the need to just kill the man where he stood.

"Sure you don't kid." he shoot back, and pushed himself off the tree and walked to where he was standing, meanwhile Allen just stood his ground and looked at him straight in the eyes, not at all hiding his dislike for the man nor his anger.

Once Cross was in front of him, and the light of the moon shun on half of his face Allen noticed he was dressed the same way he was when he first met him. He still wore the same half mask, and glasses, as well his usual golden general uniform, with his pistol that hung from his waist. His overall appearance wasn't odd, but what was, was the fact that he was completely dry and devoid of mud, while he on the other hand was almost completely drenched and his boots were completely muddy.

How on earth did he manage not to get wet in the rain? And how did he look like he had just stepped out of a room rather than walked through a forest like he did? He honestly couldn't know, but what he did know is that he hated him even more for it.

' _He probably thinks it's some sort of joke, making me walk all the way here.'_ he thought to himself, his hate for Cross increasing, as he looked up at him with murderous eyes, while Cross looked at him unfazed

"Well then?" asked Cross, puffing a large cloud of smoke.

"Well what?" asked Allen, his voice dripping with annoyance and hate for the man.

"Are you ready to do this? To convince thousands of people that you're an exorcist, and to live among them?" he asked, grabbing the stub of his cigarette and letting out another puff of smoke.

Allen scoffed and opened his mouth but then closed it, unsure of himself. He never thought about that, that he would have to live among exorcists or that he would have to convince everyone that he's an exorcist himself. He. The one who -alongside Jasdevi- killed humans for the fun of it. And now that he was here and being asked that, he honestly wasn't sure. He was an incredible liar, but could it take him that far? There was only one way to know.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," he replied, not sounding as confident as he would like.

Cross grumbled and looked him over for a brief moment as if determining if he was telling the truth.

"Good then, let's get into the ground rules," he grumbled, and Allen's brows shoot up.

"Rules?" he asked.

No one said anything about rules, he wasn't even good at following the Earl's rules, much less Cross.

"Yes rules, so listen up brat," he growled, and Allen's hands curled into fists.

"One," he said by bringing one finger up. "While in the order, and while you're looking for the heart you're not to harm any humans in any shape or form." He declared, and Allen opened his mouth to argue but before he could Cross brought up another finger and spoke again.

"Two. You're not to tell anyone you're a Noah, or use your Noah powers what so ever. Even though I'm sure the Earl already told you this, I really have to emphasize it. No blowing up the headquarters."

Before he said his last rule, Cross let out a puff of smoke and brought a third finger up. "And thirdly, you are to act and pretend like you're my apprentice. This means you can't behave like a total spoiled, arrogant, brat who thinks he knows better than anyone." he declared as a matter of factly.

Lowering his hand, both Allen and Cross looked at one another in silence as Allen tried to process everything he just heard.

Rules? Not being able to hurt anyone? Not being able to use his Noah powers -granted he'd already been ordered to do that. But lastly, was the one he couldn't tolerate or even agree to. He had to pretend to be Cross's apprentice? And not just that but he had to pretend to be some meek exorcist who followed Cross's every whim? There was absolutely no way he heard right, and absolutely no way he would agree to that.

"Excuse me?" he asked in disbelief, those words being the only thing he could think of. But Cross didn't even attempt to explain himself, as he let out another puff.

"I already told you, so listen well when I'm speaking to you brat. Those are my rules, and terms for helping you out. So If you break any of these rules I'll expose you to the order, and make sure that you nor anyone in the Noah clan ever sees the heart -that is if you're up to it." He mused, and Allen gritted his teeth but didn't say anything.

He felt that if he opened his mouth he might do something hasty, and something he might end up regretting along the line, so for once in his life he stayed quiet. For now at least. After everything was said and done, he was going to be the one laughing in the end.

Cross gave him his back, not at all nervous of the fact that he was looking away from him, already knowing he wasn't going to try anything.

"Oh, also." he turned around once more to face him.

"I can't really trust you if I'm not around. So to make sure you follow my rules, I'll have my golem follow you everywhere you go. His name's Timcanpy, and you'll find he can be quite useful if he ends up liking you that is." he grumbled, and from behind Cross's back a golden golem flew to Allen coming face to face with him, as if saying his hello to him, meanwhile Allen just looked at the flying golem with confusion.

Confused that he was just standing there, letting Cross order him around. And confused that he felt that he knew this golem somehow, almost as if he'd seen it somewhere before.

With their greetings over with, Timcanpy flew behind Allen and hovered behind him by his left.

"Also, that innocence of yours… I need to know more about it." he practically ordered, and Allen glared at Cross once more.

"As if I would tell you." he growled, and he heard Timcanpy flap his wings faster as if agitated by his anger.

Cross raised one brow as if amused. "Were allies now, whether you like it or not. So you need to give me more information in order for us to help each other."

"That's funny because becoming allies was never part of the deal." he scoffed.

Once more, Cross let out a puff of smoke before he spoke again. "It wasn't, but neither of us can achieve anything if we don't trust each other." he declared, and once more Allen scoffed.

If he recalled it was Cross who refused to tell him why he sought him out, and it was he who came to him not the other way around. And it was he who knew a vast quantity of secrets, and yet it was him who demanded him to reveal things to him and to trust him, while he kept his secretes to himself. So no, there was no way he was going to trust Cross, or become his ally.

"That's rich coming from you. Because if recall, you refused to tell me why you're helping me." he hissed angrily, but Cross was not at all fazed, in fact, he looked like he knew he would say that.

"I did, and I still won't reveal my reasons to you because you accepted my help knowing that I wouldn't tell you anything. So, me keeping secrets from you is part of our arrangement. However, I did say that I would tell you more about Nea, and I will keep my word. Now it's your turn to tell me how your innocence works." he ordered, and for the first time, Allen's mouth almost fell open in shock.

When had this happened? When had Cross switched the tables on him so quickly? Why couldn't he get a footing on his schemes, or figure out his motives? It was like he was some unreadable book, he couldn't understand and that frustrated him.

"Did I mention I'm going to find out more about your innocence regardless?" he asked, snapping him out of his shock.

"What'd mean?" he asked with a frown.

"I mean that when we walk into headquarters, your innocence will be examined so you might as well tell me now."

Once more his shock returned. No one told him his innocence shard was going to be examined, and something Cross definitely should have mentioned! Now what was he going to do? From the moment he walked into headquarters and from the moment his innocence was examined, they will know right away that his innocence was unlike anything they've seen before, and that would definitely be a bad idea.

"You said nothing about an examination!" He growled, now worried that the plan would fail.

"I didn't think it was important enough to tell you." He admitted, slightly confused about Allen's reaction.

"Not important enough! My innocence is unlike any other, and if they examine it they'll easily find out I'm a Noah." He spat, and for the first time Cross seemed concerned as his brow furrowed and he looked at him thoughtfully.

Allen knew it was actually his fault for not telling him about his innocence ahead of time, but he assumed Cross already knew, seeing as he knew almost everything about him. Would it be so shocking to for him to know that he has a converted innocence? He thought not, but clearly, he had been wrong.

"I see… well if you tell me what's so different about it I might be able to help you." He said thoughtfully, and Allen glared some more, only to give in and sigh.

He was forbidden to use his innocence unless in dire circumstances, and he was not to show it to anyone outside of the clan. However, the Earl did say he was only to use his innocence while away, and he'd already come this far. He'd managed to convince the entire family of his plan, and lied to the Earl so he might as well take it all the way.

Once more he sighed in defeat and placed his left hand on his other wrist and without thinking it furthers he pulled.

Instantly and effortlessly, his right arm slowly became a sword as he pulled his arm off. When the process was done, he stood before Cross with a white and black great sword on his left hand, and a stump for a right arm. His sword -to all who knew it- looked exactly like the Earl's only his was white.

Allen looked down at it and grimaced. He wasn't a fan of the sword, even though it was useful and a powerful tool for sure, but in the end, it was an innocence he had tried to destroy countless times. And sure every attempt to get rid of it hurt incredibly, but having a blasted innocence upon his arm was worse. He had tried to get rid of it by using his dark matter to blast it off, to even getting Tyki to cut it off, but no matter what they did it would return. However, every time it did return it changed more and more. Every time he destroyed it, his arm would return in a hue of black but then turn to red soon after. But after years of attempting to get rid of it, his arm stopped turning back to red and remained completely black, and what's more, he didn't feel the same disgusting innocence powers from it no, it felt almost like dark matter at that point, as if it had been converted and twisted into something else through so many years of pain and torture.

Raising his sword up, and looking at Cross he offered it to him to inspect, knowing full well he couldn't use it against him.

Cross walked up to him, and accepted the sword and turned it from side to side inspecting it with a sure eye.

"It's the same as the Earl's I'll give you that, but you're right it does feel different from other innocence. If I had to explain it, I would say it feels wrong, why is that?" He asked raising his eye away from the sword to look at him instead.

Once more Allen thought about not telling him, but then once more he knew he needed to in order for the plan to work. If anyone knew a way to get out of the Order inspecting his left arm, then it was Cross. He may not like it, but he had to trust him to some extent.

"That's because it's a converted innocence." He explained, and as expected Cross looked slightly shocked at the answer as his one brow shoot up.

For the first time ever Cross didn't know something, and he relished on the fact that he knew something he didn't. Unfortunately that didn't last very long.

"A converted innocence?" He asked as if he had heard him wrong.

Allen nodded and took the sword away from Cross who simply gave it back without a fuss.

"Yea, and why not? You convert Akumas don't you? Well, I converted my innocence." He said offhandedly, and Cross hummed and arched his brow.

"How did you manage it?"

"Like I'd tell you." He shoot back and returned his arm to its natural state in the blink of an eye.

"So you don't know." Cross scoffed, and Allen's brows twitched.

' _Don't kill him.'_ He told himself for the hundredth time, yet no matter how many times he said it he still wanted to throttle the man.

"But all things aside, I see how this could be a problem, but something I can easily overcome," he said offhandedly, and watched him as he turned around and walked away. Meanwhile, he stood there, confused.

"How?" he asked from where he stood.

Cross waved his hand, gesturing for him to follow, but Allen simply stood his ground. He was going to get some answers, even if he had to rip them from him.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere." he snapped, taking a step towards him, while he simply stared back.

"I've come all this way and all I've gotten is mosquito bites, and a trek through a bloody forest, so I won't leave until you tell me something!" he seethed, while Cross just stared at him the same cold, and an annoyed expression upon his face.

"Are you quite done with your ranting? Because my hat is starting to get wet." Cross grumbled and once more turned his back to Allen, and walked away meanwhile he stood there shocked.

No one had ever spoken to him that way, even Sheril or Skinn or even Jasdevi didn't risk angering him in such a way, not when he could pulverize them on the spot. In fact, the only ones that got away with it were the Earl and Road who he would never use his powers against no matter how angry he may be. However, Cross was neither of those people, and a dam inside him broke.

Allen grit his teeth, and his mind clouded in anger he grasped his right wrist and brought out his sword once more. After materializing in mere seconds he brought the sword up without any struggle with just one hand and lunged at Cross who still had his back to him.

Before he landed his blow, a few things happened in mere seconds and in such speed that he barely even registered it. Cross turned to face him once more, with an inhuman amount of speed, his coat swishing with the air. Next, he took out his gun and fired what must have been six bullets but for the life of him, he could only see one, as said bullet grazed his arm, cutting his shirt but no injuring him. Lastly, once he landed in front of Cross and brought his sword down to cut him cleanly in half, Cross brought his gun up and dug the barrel into his jaw painfully, leaving him with no choice but to stop his sword's decent a hair away from Cross's hat and both of them stood that way for what felt like ages.

"Tell me, what would my death given you? Satisfaction? Perhaps the pleasure of killing the person you know is right? Now tell me, is that really more important than winning this war? Than finding the heart and destroying it?" he asked, his usual annoyed voice now one of anger.

On the other hand, Allen simply stared at him, his brows furrowed and his nostrils flared, as his grip on his hilt tightened to the point he thought he would break it in half, meanwhile his lips were set to a thin line. he felt that if he said anything he might actually kill Cross, not to mention that he has his gun buried on his jaw and could shoot him dead at any point.

Cross dug his gun further. "Because I don't know about you but killing you would make my life easier, but I admit I need you to finish my task. And if you think that I can't end your life, I just shoot eight rounds all of them hitting their target and you didn't even notice. So if I had wanted you dead you'd be dead, so can we both work together quietly?"

Both Cross and Allen looked at each other for what felt like ages, neither one said a word or moved meanwhile both of them were deep in thought.

He knew Cross spoke the truth. Killing him would only gain him a brief satisfaction, finding the heart was ultimately more important than anything else, even if he did get under his skin. The truth was that he needed Cross, and apparently, he needed him for some unknown reason, so both of them had to find a way to work together whether they wanted to or not.

Allen glared holes at Cross for one last time, then slowly pulled his sword away, and turned it back into its natural state, meanwhile Cross put his own gun away.

"Much like you, I could have killed you in a heartbeat, if I was allowed to use my real powers, not to mention that you have information that I need. That being said, I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me something about the fourteenth." he scowled, meanwhile Cross just fixed his hat not at all in a rush to answer his question.

"Very well then, if you insist," he grumbled in displeasure and turned his head. "Much like you, the fourteenth hated me, and I hated him in return like I hate you. Now come along and do try not to fall behind."

With that Cross turned his head once more and left, leaving Allen behind.

"Seriously, that's it?" He asked from where he stood, and across shrugged, his form disappearing behind some bushes.

"For now at least. If you want to hear more you better come along before the storm hits." He called back, his form nowhere in sight. And all Allen could do was growl and follow the exorcist.

* * *

Lenalee Lee walked through the halls of headquarters, with a clipboard tucked under her arm, and her hair flowing from side to side.

General Cross had just returned to headquarters, after years of being absent, and what's more, he brought someone stranger along with him. By the looks of him, he was probably around her age and is a parasitic accommodator by the looks of his arm. But that wasn't strange at all, she was used to seeing many exorcists come and go with very odd types of innocence. What was strange, however, was his neck long snow-white hair and gray eyes, but what was even stranger was the red pentagram scar that trailed down the left side of his face. Technically speaking, said symbol was a symbol of the Millennium Earl and thus would make him an enemy, but Cross insisted that Allen was no such thing and that in fact, he is his apprentice.

In all her years in the Order, and for as long as anyone she knew could remember, Cross had never taken an apprentice. He was known for being a bit of a loner, and quite strange due to his obsession with science and magic, something the order still couldn't quite understand to this day. So how on earth Cross managed to learn magic when very little was known about it? They will never know and was one of General Cross's many mysteries, and now one more was making his way towards her following said General.

"General Cross sama, it's so good to see you." she beamed, as Cross stopped in front of her and so did the new stranger.

"Lenalee, sister of Komui if I remember correctly?"

"That's correct." she beamed once more, and Cross simply nodded and took a step sideways to reveal the white-haired boy standing behind him.

She had looked at him from a monitor back in her brother's office, but she could barely see from that thing, and now that she could look at him she realized that he was actually kinda cute. He had a very soft looking face, and his expression looked so innocent she wondered if he was really a battle-worn exorcists and not someone who'd just been taken away from his family. And though his hair was messy and damp from the rain -in fact his entire body was soaked- she found it interesting how his hair still looked pristine as it was tied behind by a red ribbon. Overall, he was quite handsome, and if she wasn't in a relationship she would ogle him some more.

"Allen, this is Lenalee Lee assistant, and sister of the chief of branch." Cross introduced.

The boy known as Allen looked at her for a brief few seconds, as if inspecting her, then he smiled and extended his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you, my names Allen. Allen Walker." He said cheerfully, as he leaned his head to one side.

Lenalee took a step forward and accepted his hand, and shook his firmly, and looked at him in the eyes. There was something odd about him, something she couldn't quite place, but she paid it no mind. He seemed like a nice individual, and she was probably overthinking.

"Well I must get going now, your brother is waiting for me to give him my report and talk to him about Allen staying with us. So why don't you take Allen and show him around? I'm sure he'll appreciate that." he asked, and she watched with amusement as Allen quickly shifted his eyes to look at Cross worriedly, but Cross didn't even glance away and simply walked away and left them behind.

"Well then, if you follow me I'll show around," she said cheerfully, and Allen smiled back and followed her down the dark halls, and Timcanpy followed.

* * *

So somebody asked for an early update, and so I obliged.

Really should have broken this chapter into two, but I really wanted to get the story going and show Allen in the Black Order.

So hope you liked this chapter, and next time you'll maybe get to see Allen's first mission as an exorcist, so be excited about that.


	9. Chapter 9: First mission

Chapter 9

First mission

* * *

Allen looked himself as he fixed his new uniform, with a displeased grimace upon his face.

He looked utterly ridiculous, and he felt he might puke if he kept looking at the symbol etched onto his chest. The black order insignia stood there proudly, glinting from the light ever so slightly. The new uniform he wore was black, with red etchings upon it as well as red buttons and a golden chain pinned to the other side of the uniform. His pants were black and he wore almost knee-high boots that had red lines on the seams, and a belt with a loop on it that was probably meant for a sword he didn't have adorned his waist. Overall he didn't think the uniform was that awful, but it was the fact that he'd killed so many exorcists wearing it, and seeing himself wear that same uniform it made him want to puke.

Once more he grimaced and fixed his white gloves, not happy that he had to wear them but he didn't really have a choice. That was the uniform regulation, and even though he saw a few people break that rule -like Lenalee for one, with her skirt- he couldn't really break regulations on his first day as an exorcist now could he? Of course, he honestly didn't care what the exorcists thought of him, but at the same time he did promise he'd pretend to be the perfect image of an exorcist, and that he'd pretend to be Cross's apprentice, even though he was still mad about that.

His eyes shifted up and met his own grey eyes on the mirror in anger.

He hated this entire plan, he hated that he had to pretend to be an exorcist, and he hated being in this place and the people in the order weren't making it any better.

Barely after stepping into the order, he had already been treated like an outsider which was fine with him, he came here to find the heart and then kill everyone, not to make friends. However, what he wasn't counting on was them believing him to be an enemy due to his pentagram like scar on his forehead. It was, of course, kind of his fault for not thinking that would be an issue, but who could blame him? He'd had that scar for so long that he barely even realized he had it anymore, so he'd been shocked when they called him up on it and it was thanks to Cross for taking him out of that dilemma because he wouldn't have known what to say… not that he would ever admit to it. In the end, Cross convinced them by telling them that only a human can be cursed and wield an innocence shard, which is something Komui instantly agreed on. However, that explanation wasn't enough to get him out of the whole innocence dilemma.

Komui -the brother of Lenalee, and a man he didn't understand how he was chief- explained to him that every exorcist that comes to the Black order had to be inspected by Hevlaska who is some sort of innocence protector that has countless shards of innocence under her watch. Now, if he wasn't undercover he would definitely have paid it a visit and destroyed every single shard it kept, and even though he knew he couldn't it was tempting. The only reason he didn't march his way there was that either way, he'll get his chance to destroy it eventually, he just needed to be patient and gain everyone's trust and find the hearts location. Then and only then could he dispose of this horrid place that made his skin crawl with disgust. But regardless of what he thought, he had been nervous of having his innocence checked, knowing full well that they'll be able to see that he isn't one of them right away. Thankfully though Cross got him out of that situation by telling Komui that he's already a full-fledged member of the Order and therefore didn't need to be examined. He didn't at all think they would buy that, but fortunately, they did and so he didn't have to go through the examination

Lowering his arms, he looked at himself one last time and made his way to the door. Last night after he'd been shown around the headquarters by Lenalee and after Cross had reminded of the rules, Komui had told him that he'd get a night of sleep and that the next day he'll get to go straight into a new mission. Usually, new exorcists had to wait some time before they got their first assignment, but seeing as he was already taught by Cross he didn't need any more training so he was ready to get to work. In reality, of course, he had no idea how to be an exorcist, but on the other hand, he did have experience with killing them so he guessed that counted for something.

Allen walked out of the door and closed it behind him softly.

"Ready?" Asked a familiar female voice.

Allen turned around and Looked at Lenalee who was standing before him.

With her soft looking skin, and her oval face and wide eyes, as well as the pigtails he thought she was actually attractive -for an exorcist that is. Though, he had to admit that she was a bit of a drag. She was appointed as sort of guide for him, something she took with great honour as she showed him around the headquarters with a bright smile, meanwhile, he tried really hard not to glare at everything he saw.

"Er- Yea Komui sama asked me to go see him, he said he had a new mission? But I don't know where exactly his office's located" He asked, faking unsureness and a shy smile which seemed to work.

Lenalee tilted her head to one side and smiled in return. "That's alright, I figure you wouldn't remember exactly where everything is so I came here to take you to him."

Lenalee smiles brightly, and Allen chuckled and stroke the back of his neck pretending to be nervous. And though he honestly wanted to wretch, he knew he needed to act the part or else, and he was glad to see that it was working for now.

Not saying anything else, Lenalee turned on the spot and walked down the halls, turning her head to make sure that Allen was following her which he was.

They were more or less silent as they walked down the halls, Lenalee only ever speaking when scientists or an exorcist she seemed to know passed by then with a simple hello.

By the number of times she had to say hi, he knew that she was obviously well known. So due to her popularity, she spent most of their walk greeting people which Allen thought was incredibly exhausting. He couldn't imagine taking a leisure stroll down the ark and having to have to say hi to everyone that crosses his path, he barely even greeted to the clan when he passed them by let alone greeting strangers or friends. The very concept that someone would sacrifice their own time for others confused him but he didn't question her or asked. He simply followed her silently.

Both of them kept walking down a large spiralling staircase until they finally reached their destination and Allen finally recognized where they were. They were in front of Komui's office, and judging by the scandal going on inside he was probably behaving like a complete twat. He didn't know much about the man, but from what he saw the previous day he wasn't impressed, but then again what could he expect from the Black Order?

Letting out a deep sigh Lenalee smiled and opened the large double doors, instantly exposing them to the racket going on inside.

"Lenalee!" Komui screamed from a crossed the room, and as soon as the door was wide open he lunged and practically tackled her to the ground with a hug.

"Onii-chan!" Lenalee exclaimed mortified, but Komui paid her very little attention as he kept hugging her much to Lenalee's embarrassment.

"Komui, get back here!" Someone screamed from the other side of the room.

The three of them, Allen, Lenalee and Komui turned their heads to look at the cause of the compassion.

A large robot with a hat on top of its head was running after a group of scientist he met yesterday. One of the said scientists was a bespectacled curly haired boy, who he thinks is named Johnny? And then the other one he remembered is the section chief. Reever was running from the robot like all of his fellow scientists, not at all caring that he had an image to uphold.

The three of them simply stood by the door as they watched the robot beeping, and chasing after the poor scientist who clearly never had to run in their lives.

From beside them, Lenalee stumped her foot down in anger, and both Komui and Allen turned their heads to look at the angry girl.

"Did you drop coffee on it again? You know if you keep this up Kanda's main job in the order is going to have to change from exorcist to robot executioner." She huffed, and Komui finally let go of her as if afraid she might actually kick him.

"So mean Lenalee! I didn't drop any coffee on it, it just started malfunctioning!" Komui whined comically, and Allen gave out a fake chuckled that was a bit louder than he intended.

Suddenly the room became very quiet, and he wondered if he did something wrong? But then he realized that he must have caught the robot's attention.

slowly, alongside Komui, and Lenalee they turned their heads to look at the direction of where the robot stood.

By a destroyed desk, the large robot was no longer chasing after the scientist, hence the sudden silence, but rather was now looking at the three of them intently which seemed to scare Lenalee and Komui, but annoyed him. Honestly, what could a robot really do to him?

Almost as if the robot could hear his thoughts, it's glinting red eye narrowed and zeroed in on him, as if inspecting him until suddenly it took a few tentative steps towards him. Allen stood his ground, not at all worried, and the robot didn't seem hostile towards him- yet.

Both robot and man looked at each other until suddenly a red light shot out of its eyes and scanned him from feet to head, causing him to squint from the light.

The robot made a few wiring sounds and Allen just stood there confused.

"Allen Walker, parasite type…" the robot stopped suddenly, it 's beam of light now concentrated to his head. "Exorcist…" once more it stopped.

The room remained quiet as the robot kept analyzing him until suddenly the beam of light disappeared and the robot's eye turned bright red almost as if out of anger.

"Enemy of the Black order!" It practically shouted.

Simultaneously everyone in the room gasped in disbelief, meanwhile, Allen couldn't believe his cover was blown by some damn robot! Or was it?

Feigning innocence, his mouth fell open and he looked at the robot utterly confused. He didn't know if the others really believed a malfunctioning robot, so he had to play the card that maybe they didn't believe it.

Allen raised his hands and shook them. "Wait, wait, I'm not an en-"

Before he could end his sentence, the robot lunged with the intent to kill as it raised it's a large arm to squash him in half, and that was it for him. Undercover or not, he just wasn't going to stand around and let himself be beaten by some robot.

His eyes narrowed, as the robot got closer and closer, and before it reached him Allen leaped into the air. While airborne, he twisted his body so that he was facing the robot and grasped his left hand with his right and swiftly called upon his sword.

"No! My Komlin!" Komui shouted in despair as Allen brought his sword down, and like a knife to butter split the robot cleanly in half.

Allen landed on the balls of his feet and returned his sword to its natural state and turned around to look at the robot as it short-circuited and exploded in his face, much to his displeasure.

Remnants of the robot hit him, and the smoke that emanated from it covered him in a heavy black cloud. As if this day couldn't get any worse with having to have to go on an exorcist mission, now he also had to spend his first day with soot-covered uniform as well, just perfect.

When the cloud dissipated and finally revealing him to the scientists, as well as to Komui and Lenalee he looked at them with an embarrassed expression. Not that he was actually embarrassed, just that -once more- he had to act the part.

"My Komlin" Komui said softly, sounding genuinely sad about the robots passing, meanwhile everyone just sighed in exasperation, but Komui didn't pay any attention to them.

The foolish man walked up to the robot's head that was on the floor emitting black clouds, as well as dangerous sparks.

Komui knelt before the head, took it in his arms and cradled it like a baby. "It's not to bad I could pro-"

"Onii-chan!" Lenalee scolded, and Komui kept weeping at the loss of his robot, not at all listening to them.

"Well he's in a terrible mood now, so you aren't likely to hear anything from him," Reever said as he walked towards them.

"But what about our mission?" asked Allen unsure, and Reever turned to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Toma, the finder that was assigned to this mission already knows the logistics of your mission. So I recommend you go find him since you'll probably have more luck with him than with Komui at the moment." he sighed, turning his head to look at the wailing Komui.

Honestly were people in Black cross really this stupid, or was it just Komui?

"Alright Reever, we'll go search for Toma." Lenalee thanked, and Reever smiled back reassuringly.

And so with that, both of them made their way out of the office.

* * *

Allen walked down the streets, looking around appearing slightly nervous, and jittery to those around him, but really he was just utterly bored.

They were sent to this city to look for an innocence. Toma had told them that without a doubt this was the place, even though they haven't found anything yet.

The finder -Toma- is heavily experienced in his job, no mean feat, seeing as most finders died quickly. But regardless of his skills, Toma still insisted that the innocence is in this town, seeing as Akuma activity has oddly increased in the last few weeks. So yes they knew the innocence was here, but where exactly was it? Even he couldn't know.

As a noah he was able to sense innocence in a way humans, and even exorcists cannot, but that ability still doesn't make finding the damn things any easier. Of course, he had gone on the hunt for innocence before, but that usually ended with the death of somebody and the destruction of said innocence. Those hunts were way more fun than simply walking around, hoping that the innocence will somehow show itself and then having to take it and bring it to the wretched order for safe keeping.

His lips curled, in a disgusted frown. Just the very idea that he had to protect the innocence made him want to puke, or worse, made him want to simply forget his task and destroy the the damn thing.

'Yea right.' He told himself.

He knew he couldn't destroy the innocence, and he knew he couldn't even make it so the innocence gets destroy by accident or Cross will know. That damn cocky exorcist was more perceptive than even he, so if the innocence gets destroyed he can bet that Cross will blame him for it.

In frustration, Allen let out a soft sigh, and Toma instantly turned his head to look at him. Not wanting the man to notice that he was on edge, or lose his cover, Allen simply smiled as if telling him everything was fine.

For a little while, Toma simply stared at him, but then nodded and turned to look ahead of himself. Meanwhile, Allen's smile fell and glared viciously at the back of the finder's head.

For a simple human, without any powers or even the ability to destroy the weakest of akumas, Toma was certainly very perceptive. He didn't know if Cross had told the finder something, or if he ordered him to keep an extra watch on him, but one thing was certain; for whatever reason, he didn't know why, Toma didn't trust him. This distrust was obvious by how he kept close proximity to him, as well as the way his eyes kept jerking back to his every time he so much as breathed too loudly. He didn't really mind as long as he didn't get any ideas, not to mention that there was no possible way he could really know his true identity. He managed to fool the entirety of the Black order -or rather Cross did- so one puny finder couldn't possibly figure out his secret, and he knew that. But regardless if he knew or not, he didn't like the finder and besides. Cross said he himself couldn't kill anyone in the order, but that didn't mean he couldn't invertible get them killed didn't it?

As if knowing his inner thoughts, the golem flying beside him fluttered his wings rapidly, as if in warning.

Allen's eyes snapped up and looked at the golden golem. Tim -as Cross would call him- wasn't really a nuisance, and he didn't get in his way or anything, he simply watched and reported to Cross. So despite him actually liking the thing, he found it extremely annoying at times.

"Something wrong Allen?" Asked Lenalee, and Allen's eyes snapped down to her and gave her and a reassuring smile.

"Yea, just a little hungry is all. We've been searching for the innocence for quite some time." He said, stroking the back of his neck once more.

Lenalee sighed and nodded in agreement.

"That's true if only my brother had given us instructions it wouldn't be this difficult. I supposed we can stop and eat though." She suggested, and Allen nodded excitedly.

He really was hungry, that wasn't a lie at all. Since he has a parasitic innocence -as converted as it maybe- he still got extremely hungry, and since they only had a small meal before heading out he felt like he was starving to death. These damn exorcist, and their plan to starve him to death.

Lenalee's lips quirked up in amusement.

"Alright then." She said simply and led them to one of the few restaurants in the town. The red lion it was called.

Before going in Toma stopped walking, and both Lenalee and Allen turned to look at him with concern.

"I'll stay out here, patrolling the area Lenalee sama." He declared with a bow to her, not at all acknowledging him and that worried him.

The finder definitely knew something he didn't, and he needed to find a way to get rid of him.

"Sure thing Toma, but don't exert yourself too much ok?" Lenalee beamed, and Toma simply smiled under the wrappings that covered his mouth and nodded, and with that, he left them to enter the restaurant.

Both he and Lenalee turned and made their way inside and as they walked through the doors and got seated near the windows Allen felt the odd sensation of being watched, not to mention that he sensed Akumas nearby.

"What will you be ordering sir." Asked the waiter, snapping Allen out of his thoughts as he looked up at the bearded waiter.

"Yea, sorry." He apologized, and the waiter simply gave him a curt nod.

"Well, I'll have..."

As usual for him, Allen gave the waiter a long list of foods to bring him. A list that went on and on, and which had the waiter shocked, as he had his mouth open in awe.

When he finally finished, the waiter kept staring at him for a few seconds until he realized that he was being rude and cleared his throat awkwardly and began writing the order.

"My Allen that's quite the amount of food." She exclaimed shocked.

Turning his attention away from the waiter he looked back at Lenalee and shrugged, and chuckled nervously.

"I gotta eat because of my innocence." He explained as the shocked waiter left the table leaving them both alone in an awkward silence.

Both of their eyes were on each other, neither of them not knowing what to talk about, something that rarely happened to him. With his cocky disposition, and having been brought up in an aristocratic society he was well versed in topics of discussion, due to his high-end education. He knew a bit about everything, seeing as the Earl, Lulu, Wisely, and Sheril didn't want him to remain uneducated. So yes, he knew a bit about politics, science, philosophy, literature, arts, history, and basic general culture and academics really, so he had quite a few topics of conversation, but none of them he thought would interest her. And despite his vast knowledge, he didn't know much about exorcists.

The awkward silence continued, and Allen scratched his head awkwardly not really pretending to mask how uncomfortable he really was.

It was nearly three minutes later that Lenalee decided to break the silence.

"So when did you first meet General Cross?" she asked curiously, but really she was just desperately looking for a topic of conversation.

Allen put his hand down and smiled. One would think he would be fearful of discussing his fake history with Cross, and he would be had he not discussed it with Cross in lengths before they arrived at headquarters. so -even though it was a lie- he was confident and knew exactly what to say.

"I was twelve when I first met him, he sort of picked me up and took me in as his apprentice when he noticed I had an innocence." He declared, and Lenalee nodded.

"So you've had your innocence since you were twelve?" She asked taking a sip of her water.

"Well not really. My arm's been like this since I can remember." He explained and Lenalee's eyes widened slightly from shock, and Allen's self-confidence wavered. Was he not supposed to say that?

"Since you can remember?" She asked shocked.

"Yup, since I can remember." He repeated and frowned.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

Lenalee continued to stare at him in disbelief, but then seemed to regather herself as she shook her head and offered him a fake smile.

"No, no nothing wrong with it. It's just that it's odd is all. Most exorcists receive their innocence later on in life, I myself got mine when I was four and I'm probably one of the youngest known cases. But having an innocence all your life, well I've never heard of that. I wonder if my brother knows of others?" she wondered as she looked out the window.

Their conversation didn't continue after that, and as the waiter brought a trolley full of food, Allen had no need to keep conversing with her. Instead, he lunged at his food like a starved man, even though he still remembered his manners and ate as pristine as a starving gentleman.

The girl in front of him gave out an amused chuckle, and for the first time Allen's eyes looked up from his plate.

"My, you really were starving." she chuckled, and Allen simply nodded and kept eating away.

Once Allen had eaten all his food, which didn't take him long, Lenalee paid with what she assured him was the order's money, and so they both said their goodbyes to the waiter and exited the restaurant.

As he expected Toma was waiting outside, under the small canopy of the restaurant so as to not be exposed to the sun. It wasn't exactly summer, but still, the sun was out and it was quite hot as well.

"Ms. Lenalee san." greeted Toma, and only gave Allen a curt nod that was starting to get under his skin.

He really didn't care what exorcist thought of him, but boy this finder was really starting to make an exception. He had killed humans for much less, and yet he had to stay his hand and simply smile like a fool, or did he?

"Hey Lenalee, how about we split up?" he asked, his hands on his waist in a relaxed pose.

Lenalee turned her gaze away from Toma, who was looking at him wearily behind her back.

For the first time, Lenalee's smile fell and looked at him worriedly.

"I don't know, this is your first mission with us and I don't want to leave you on your own. Not that I don't believe in your skills Allen, of course not it's just that-" she stopped and sighed, and Allen instead of interrupting her as he'd usually would, he kept quiet and let her continue.

"Well we don't know much about this town, and I keep getting this feeling that somebody's watching us, and I'm just worried." she sighed and he nodded his understanding.

It was hard to argue with her on that, not to mention that he was technically her subordinate seeing as she had more time with the order, so whatever she said goes. Not to mention that he also, felt like someone was watching them but unlike her, he knew it was akumas watching. He felt their cursed and trapped souls, and he could feel their concern and confusion as to why a noah was with an exorcist, which he guessed was why they haven't attacked them yet. No akuma would ever attack a noah after all, unless the Earl specifically ordered, something he guessed he must have forgotten to do.

For the second time that day Allen sighed. "You're right, I also feel like someone's watching, so I think you're right. We should stick together, at least until we can at least find out who's been following us." he conceded.

With that Lenalee nodded, turned around and continued to walk aimlessly down the road.

The three of them walked and walked, sometimes stopping to ask the locals if there was anything strange happening recently in town. Any attacks, strange disappearances, strange unexplainable things? The list went on and on, yet not many said anything, they simply said everything was as usual in town, and that nothing out of the ordinary was going on. There were, however, a few people telling them that things haven't been as normal the past couple of days, mainly because the town has seen a large surge of strange people coming into town for no real reason or purpose. Naturally, he knew those strange people they spoke of were akumas that had come seeking the innocence and from Lenalee's face, she also suspected the same thing.

After an hour had gone by they still didn't know anything regarding the innocence location, and he was at this point mentaly exhausted. He was good at finding information and making people tell him what he needed to know, but that tended to be a lot easier when he could torture them for it. Of course he couldn't do that now, and instead had to remain quiet as they made their way inside pubs, and stores requesting information, and though they were all pretty tired, Lenalee always smiled every time she approached someone.

When Lenalee spoke to the twentieth person that day, Allen couldn't help but look at her. She really was dedicated to her job and took it quite seriously, but it went further than that. He could easily tell that she clearly cared for the safety of those around her, not just of people in the order but of the safety of the town's people as well. It was noticeable in the genuine way she looked at people with concern, and how she told them to stay indoors for now and stay safe, and every time he heard her he wanted to scoff at her. Such innocence and preoccupation for others don't belong in this world, much less in their world.

The human world is a dog eat dog world. With the way they selfishly sell out their own kind, torture, kill, and harm each other he wondered how Lenalee -an exorcist- managed to remain so pure of heart, and so concerned for her fellow humans.

'Naivety.' he scoffed at himself.

It had to be her naivety, there was no way an exorcist with experience would ever care so much for their fellow humans. After years of seeing their fellow exorcist slaughtered by akumas and noahs, no exorcist could remain so selfless, it was just impossible. Cross being the main example. He just sold out the entire human race to the noahs, and why? So he could complete some unknown task of his, and despite not knowing what it was, no task could be so great that it was worth chucking their fellow humans to certain death. But then again, Cross had more experience than Lenalee, so at this point, he probably doesn't care about people dying.

"Ah, let's take a seat for a little while." She called out, as she slumped down on a water fountain's bench.

"Yea I'm getting tired too," he exclaimed exhausted and he too slumped down on the bench beside her.

He wasn't actually tired, but he again he had to act the role and pretend to be a human, so that meant getting tired of nothing.

"Not setting Toma?" she asked, pushing her pigtails back so that the small amount of wind would hit her neck.

Toma shook his head and gripped the straps of his backpack. "I'll go check our perimeters, and see if I can find anything." he declared, and gave Lenalee a small nod and with that, he left.

Once he was out of earshot Allen gave out a long sigh.

"He doesn't seem to like me much," he grumbled like a disappointed child who couldn't make friends with another kid in the park.

Lenalee turned to look at him and smiled reassuringly. "Most finders are a bit skeptical of newcomers. Unfortunately, their lives tend to be short because they don't have innocence like we do, so they're very careful as to who they trust so don't take it personally." she beamed, and Allen nodded and smiled shyly.

He knew that she spoke the truth to some extent, but he knew Toma was far too skeptical of him to be normal. He had to know something, and for that reason, he had to get rid of him and he knew exactly how to do that.

Staying quiet, as Lenalee rested on the bench as she looked at her surroundings with a smile plastered on her lips, he took a silent breath and focused and submerged himself in the realm of his mind just like Wisely taught him. What he was attempting to do was difficult -at least to him it was- and sometimes he didn't manage to achieve it, but he was confident he could do it this time.

Allen closed his eyes and focused until finally, he managed to break through. He was inside the realm of his mind -or rather some sort of subconscious telekinesis realm, he still didn't quite understand. He did, however, know that it felt weird, almost as if he was disconnected from his body, and was floating aimlessly in this strange realm. He personally hated doing this, and he seriously didn't understand how Wisely could put himself through it every day, but then again for him, it was as natural as breathing so it felt normal.

Putting his discomfort aside he focused until he found what he was looking for.

Without having to look very far, he found them easily. Scattered throughout the town were five akumas, and instantly without thinking about it he touched the minds of all five akumas. The reaction was instant.

Thoughts of wonder and awe overflowed his mind as all akumas exclaimed in unisons.

' _noah sama!"_

' _A noah!"_

' _Lord noah!'_

They all exclaimed in awe and Allen rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why akumas held such high views of them since they were the ones that were enslaving them, and forced them to kill their loved ones.

' _Beasts will be beasts_ ' he thought to himself, his thoughts kept to himself.

' _Listen up._ ' He exclaimed, and simultaneously all the akumas quieted and listened intently, and Allen didn't take his time to continue talking.

' _I don't know what lord Millenium has ordered you to do here, but for now, I order you to put those orders to the side._ ' He ordered and felt the akumas instantly tensed up, telling an akuma to not follow their initial orders from the Earl was incomprehensible but he knew that he could make them do what he said, and so he continued.

' _Currently, there's a female exorcist and a finder in this town and they're after the innocence shard you were no doubt ordered to obtain. What I want you to do is simple. Kill the exorcist and the finder. Whoever achieves this will have the privilege to take the innocence back to the Earl on my behalf_.' He ordered, and at the mention of taking the innocence, the akumas rejoiced.

' _So kind noah sama!'_

' _So thoughtful!'_ they all said cheerfully, and once more Allen rolled his eyes. Akumas were so easy to convince, and order around it was disgusting.

' _Quiet._ ' he grumbled and once more they quieted.

' _Apart from killing the exorcist, I want you to treat me as an enemy exorcist. Also, I don't want you to call me noah or treat me like you know me. I'm an exorcist of the Black order, and I can't have you blowing my cover.'_

That seemed to be an order they clearly did not like. Akumas are supposed to follow a noah's every order and never harm them so telling them that they had to forget that, it was basically telling them to go against their own nature. It was a little cruel yes, but what did that matter? In the end, they're just beasts cursed to do their viding until they either died or were no longer needed. Their lives don't matter.

The akumas didn't know what to say as they all stayed silent until one of them spoke up.

' _But Noah sama-'_

' _That is an order, and whoever does not follow will be destroyed. Understand?'_ he growled, and he felt the akumas tense up.

'Yes!' they all practically shouted in unison.

Going against their own nature was difficult for them, but not following a direct order was impossible for them. After all, they'll never be anything but slaves to their cause, and he supposed in a way so was he.

' _You are free to go._ ' he grumbled, and instantly he felt the minds of the akumas leave one by one except for one who stayed behind.

'What?" he asked it annoyed, and the akuma tensed up but didn't make any motion of leaving.

' _W-w-well noah sama it's just that lord Tyki Mikk is on his way here to retrieve the innocence, what shall we do?_ ' the akumas stammered.

His eyes almost snapped open at that. Tyki was here? That was odd. Usually, Tyki wasn't sent to retrieve such trifle innocence, he was much too powerful to do such things. He was usually sent out to more important missions, and for that reason, he always had a lot of free time. Missions like these were usually left to Road, Jasdevi, Skinn or pretty much anyone else that wasn't Tyki, Wisely or Tryde. Wisely because he isn't a fighter, and Tyki and Tryde because they're usually given more important missions. So to hear that Tyki was here was concerning. Either this innocence was much more important than he thought, or there was more than met the eye in this town. But regardless of what that was, facing Tyki right now was much too soon.

Allen hummed in his head, deep in thought.

' _Let him know I'm here, and that I have to do something regarding my mission. He'll understand and leave, but if he doesn't tell him that I'm asking it of him._ ' He ordered the akuma who didn't say anything further and simply left, probably to go seek Tyki.

For a little while, he remained in the silence of his mind, deep in thoughts. He didn't want to fight Tyki, not because he was afraid, but because it would just complicate things at the moment. His position in the order isn't at all cemented, and he rather not set himself back by drawing unwanted attention to himself something that will surely happen if he fights any members of his clan.

His eyes opened slowly and looked at the clouded sky.

He wasn't sure if Tyki would listen to him, but one thing was for certain. There was something going on in this town, and he was going to find out what that was.

* * *

Far away on the mountains overseeing the town, Tyki was leaning on a tree, his expression one of amusement as he looked down at the small town as if the people inhabiting it were ants under his feet. He wasn't alone though. Behind him stood an akuma awaiting his orders, the very same akuma that brought him the great news.

So Allen is currently in this town on his first mission? Well, that was certainly interesting. He had always wanted to fight the boy due to the fact that their powers are the exact opposite of each other, but he never really had the chance. But even though Allen did ask him to stay away, how could he? He now had the chance he always wanted, and even though Allen isn't allowed to use his real powers he wanted to see what he was capable of.

Tyki grinned and tipped his hat down.

"Well Shounen, the game's set."

* * *

Hey so sorry it took me some time to finish this chapter, but I really had to plan out this section of the story. this will be a three-part sort of story arc so i had to make sure that everything was well thought out.

So anyways, as always thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10: The Ecclestone mansion

Chapter 10

The Ecclestone mansion

* * *

The flowers by his window sill were dying, everything in this mansion has been recently dying off slowly.

Michael pushed his face closer and touched the petals softly with that pads of his fingers, not wanting to cause them any more harm. The flower itself was a simple orchid, nothing too special or rare, but still. The flower had been healthy and thriving but a few days ago, and now it looked as if it was at death's door, it made no sense. But then again nothing made sense this past couple of days, not since that thing started to-

A nock emanated from the door, snapping him out of his thoughts and causing him to jerk jump a little on the spot. He really has been too skittish lately.

"May I come in sir?" the familiar voice of Frederick asked from behind the door.

Michael looked down on himself and fixed his cravat, and gave the room a brief glance to see if anything was out of place. Frederick is a neat freak, and for a butler, he sure scolded him when his living space didn't meet his standards.

Once he was satisfied that everything was as clean as can be, he turned to face the door once more.

"Of course, you may come in," he answered.

The doorknob jiggled a bit, and the door swung open and in came Frederick.

Frederick is an older fellow walked in through the door, and Michael looked straight at him. Most of the man's hair has already turned white, with the exception of a few brown streaks, and his small beard that was also completely white. He wore his usual suit and tie with white gloves, and pocket watch chain was pinned to his vest with the watch itself tucked safely in his pocket. He wore black suede shoes with long red socks that were barely visible. Overall he is a well-kept, but also a rugged man that seemed really welcoming to his guests but frightening to the staff working under him., but to him, he'll always be the closest thing he ever had to a father.

"Well, it's good to see you're already up sir. As you know Mr. Jonathan will be here at twelve six as always, and before he arrives I would suggest you have your breakfast, and then take care of business first." Frederick suggested, but really it sounded more like an order.

Michael nodded with a sighed, there was no point with arguing with the old man.

"I didn't notice that I hadI'd slept in, sorry about that." he apologized and grabbed his chosen vest for the day and put slipped it on.

"That's alright sir, it's been a tough few days, but no matter. The day awaits, and I'm sure a training session with Mr. Jonathan will benefit you, or at least it'll get you on your feet." he declared, and Michael smiled in return.

"I suppose you're right but at the same time… well, there really isn't anything Johnathan can teach me anymore is there? And truthfully the only reason why I haven't dismissed him is that I just can't bring myself to do it." He admitted.

Frederick hummed thoughtfully and walked to the dresser and took out his pocket watch, which he handed to him.

"Mr. Johnathan may have nothing more to teach your sir, but at least he's a good training partner, and if you let him go who will you have to fence with you? Me?"

Michael gave out a deep chuckle and shook his head. He could practically envision the old butler fencing against him.

"You're right." he conceded and walked to his mirror to fix his messy hair.

"Though you gotta admit that would be hilarious." he chuckled, and Frederick huffed softly his indignation.

"For you perhaps, but I rather not put myself on the other side of a sword unless I can help it."

Michael nodded and grabbed a comb from the table near him, and began to tidy up his messy hair.

"But anyway, I'll go get breakfast ready for you," Frederick said, and with that, he left and left Michael by himself.

Alone once more, Michael turned back to the mirror and continued to fix his hair, and looked at himself. His appearance wasn't anything out of the ordinary, at least he would say so. His hair was blond and was medium-sized, and the bangs flopped down neatly on the right side of his eye, partially covering it. His eyes were blue in colour, and his face was a smooth angular shape. People would often tell him he had an innocence about him, especially due to his childlike face. He is nineteen years of age, but he doesn't feel nineteen, he feels much older than that and it showed through his weary-looking eyes.

With his hand, he smoothed down his hair, and with that, he gave himself one last look in the mirror and then proceeded to make his way out the room.

The hallways he walked through were quite lavished, its wall filled with expensive paintings, as well as knight suits, and furniture. This is the Ecclestone mansion and old and quite expensive piece of property that has been with his family for many, many years. He was even born and raised at this mansion.

Michael walked through an archway and made his way to the large, lavished table set up in the middle of the room. He sat on the chair at the head of the table, where his plate of food was set up for him.

Without much thought, he began eating, not at all minding that he was on his own in such a large room.

* * *

"Tiered?" A deep voice asked.

Michael grinned and took in several deep breaths through his mouth. Sweat was dripping down his forehead, causing his hair to cling to his skin, as well as his fencing clothes.

In Front of him stood Jonathan., He was a man of around thirty years of age, with short hair and a long curly moustache covered his lips. He wore identical fencing clothes as Michael, and upon his hand, he held a foil which was pointing down to the floor. He was well built, and quite tall as well. Much like Michael, he was sweating profoundly, and his breathing came out harshly.

"Are you?" He asked in return.

Jonathan grinned, his lips barely showing under his mustache.

"A bit, though I was hoping to practice with the rapier before we conclude your training sir."

"The rapier, why would we train with that?" Michael Asked, walking to the table set up near the wall. Once in front of it, he put his foil down on it, and grabbed one of the towels and wiped his sweat with it.

"Well, rapiers are a real combat sword for one. I thought since there's not much I can teach you about fencing, and handling a foil, maybe we could move on to real other swords. Learn to defend yourself" He said, walking to the table and grabbing another towel as well as a cup of water which he drank in a few unsophisticated gulps.

Usually, Jonathan's lack of manners would annoy most people of his standards, but he was completely fine with it. He'd known Jonathan he since he was a small boy, in fact, it had been his father who hired him. He still remembered the first time he met him and how frightened he had been when he met the large man, only to learn that he's what they would call a gentle giant.

Michael turned to look at his mentor.

"I think I can hold my own with the skills I got." He responded. He didn't really want to learn to use the rapier at the moment, he didn't want to do much of anything lately.

Jonathan gulped the last remains of his water and put the cup down on the table a little bit too harshly.

"Perhaps, but real sword fights are different from fencing. In a real fight, you'll have to worry about your life rather than points."

Michael hummed, and put his cup down gently and crossed his arms.

"That's true, but why would I need to know how to fight with a sword?" he asked, sounding a little too arrogant.

Jonathan copied his posture, as he crossed his arms and looked at him with amusement, but with a bit of concern.

"Well, what if you're in danger, sir? After your parents, I would..." Frederick'sJonathan's voice drifted silent, as he looked at the no longer amused face of Michael.

For a brief, while the atmosphere seemed to tense as Jonathan look at him with sadness, and Michael turned his attention away from his mentor and looked down at the foil on the table. He'd learn to wield a sword ever since he was quite young because his father would often tell him that a man needed to know how to defend himself in this world. All his life he lived with those words, trying to train himself to protect himself but what good did that to him?

Still looking down at the table he let out a sigh.

"Jonathan, nobody uses swords anymore. You and I are some of the few people left in this world who seek to follow the ways of the sword. A few years ago you might have been right, but nowadays everything's just modern, much simpler. Now you just need to be able to aim and pull a trigger in order to kill a man." he said, his voice sounding far away.

For a little while, both Frederick and Michael remained quiet, neither one wanting to say anything. It was a few minutes later that Jonathan sighed, and opened his mouth but before he could say anything he was interrupted.

"Master Michael, Sir Frederick Jonathan sorry to interrupt you both but we have a guest. Two exorcists that go by the name of Allen, and Lenalee. They request to come inside to inspect the mansion." Frederick announced as he made his way inside the training room.

Michael frowned, and turned on the spot, giving Frederick his full attention. They rarely ever got visitors, and never from the church. Could it be that they knew?

"Exorcists?" He asked both confused and intrigued.

Like Michael, Jonathan frowned and took a step towards Frederick, his body towering over both of them.

"What would people of the church be doing here?" He asked looking from one to another.

Jonathan shrugged and put the towel he was holding down on the table.

"No idea." He responded and looked at Frederick for a brief moment, but just as he was about to turn his head he saw something he had never seen before causing his gaze to remain glued on the older man.

He didn't know how to put it but Frederick looked almost nervous, and afraid, it wasn't too obvious, but he could tell. His pupils were blown out, and his hand seemed to shake ever so slightly, not to mention that his chest was rising up and down oddly faster. Frederick turned his head, and their eyes met for a brief moment.

Michael furrowed his brows, and Frederick simply gave him a reassuring nod, and hastily looked away from him.

Michael's grown deepened as he looked at Frederick, now incredibly concerned. In all of his life, he had never seen the man nervous, much less afraid. Whoever, these said exorcists were are bad news.

Jonathan looked from Frederick to Michael with confusion and concern.

"So is anyone going to be welcoming the guests?" Asked Jonathan, and that seemed to snap Michael out of his thoughts.

"Yea, I'll go. You and Frederick can stay here, while I greet our guests. They're men and women of the church, they should be treated with respect." He declared, his words filled with half-truths.

Yes, he was going to welcome them, but not because he didn't want to be rude. He didn't care one bit if the church for offended or not, what he wanted to know is who these people were and how they manage to elicit such a reaction from a man such a Frederick.

Michael turned on the spot, fully meaning to go greet their guest, however before he could Frederick grabbed his arm a little harder than he needed to. Michael turned sharply on the spot to look at the Butler and looked confused at the man's frightened expression.

"Master Michael you cannot open the door to your own house, it would offend me if you do. So please go to the seating area, and I'll bring our guest to you." He proposed, his voice sounding not nearly as sure as he usually sounded.

For a brief second, he considered Frederick. He wanted to say no and go see who these people were, clearly, they weren't people of the church, not to mention that the disrespect their brought upon his home for lying at his very butler. However, at the same time, it would be incredibly disrespectful to pull Frederick form his duty as well, the Butler wouldn't take it well and he would never hear the end of it.

Noticing that he hadn't said anything for a while, he cleared his throat and Frederick let go of his arm.

"Very well, I'll wait at the seating room." He conceded, and Frederick seemed to deflate as he nodded and left, Michael looked at him leave with worry.

"I should leave unless you want me to stay. Something tells me there's something odd about this so-called men and women of God." Jonathan grumbled, and Frederick turned to look at him.

He considered Frederick's proposition to stay for a brief while, but ultimately he shook his head.

"No it's fine, we'll be alright there's no need to worry. Thank you though."

Jonathan bowed his head.

"No need to mention it. I'll take my leave now though, but if you do need me don't hesitate to send someone to get me." He said, and Michael nodded.

With that Jonathan nodded in return and left, taking his foil and putting it inside an old wooden case.

Once Jonathan was gone, Michael turned. He was supposed to go greet his guest, but before he made his way there he took the time to get changed and to clean himself.

Once done he made his way to the seating room. On his way there he couldn't help but think of who he would meet there. Clearly, someone that could bring such fear to Frederick had to be someone visually frightening. However, when he got there he was shocked to see that he had been wrong.

As he made his way to the room, he could hear the soft voice of a woman, and the oddly musical voice of a man.

Michael stopped, and listened to what they were saying before he walked inside the room.

"What brings you here Sir Allen?" Asked Frederick, once more sounding unsure.

A brief moment of silence passed, as he heard someone take a sip of their tea, and proceeded to put the cup down.

"A few town folks expressed concern on the recent events happening in the town. Apparently, there's been a few strange disappearances, as well as murders. We were sent here to check, and deal with whatever it's causing this disturbance." Said a female voice, even though Frederick had asked the man Allen.

Michael continued to stand by the doorway both confused, and skeptical. Why would the church send exorcist to deal with disappearances and murders? These things were left to the authority, not the church. Clearly, there was something odd ongoing on here, and he was going to find out what that was.

Straightening up his back he fixed his cravat and stored inside the room.

"Shouldn't such things be left to the authorities?" Boomed Michael's voice, sounding almost authoritative as he made his way inside the seating room.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing as they turned their heads to look at him, their eyes glued on him as he made his way to his large lavished chair opposite them. Before he took his seat he looked at both exorcist, almost inspecting them as he looked at the confused.

They were nothing how he expected them to look. The man wasn't even a man, but a young man probably around the same age as he. His hair -oddly enough- was white as snow, and his eyes were a clear gray completing his odd look. He also had a strange pentagram like scar on his forehead, a strange thing to see on an exorcist. As for his clothes, he wore a black and red uniform, odd for an exorcist.

As for the girl, she had pigtails and her hair black, a complete contrast to the other exorcist. She was quite cute he couldn't deny it despite the red and black uniform.

Overall both of them didn't look at all like exorcists, he would have even called them bounty hunters if anything. What were these two doing here?

"Not that the church shouldn't concern themselves for our town's safety." He continued as he sat down on his chair, and as he did Frederick quickly made his way to him and handed him a cup of tea.

The three of them looked at each other, none of them drinking their tea. Michael took his time to look at both of them closely

The girl was looking at him, looking almost sheepish as she but the inside of her cheek. Meanwhile, the white-haired boy looked at him with an almost critical eye, as if he was gauging him.

Michael looked form one to the other and shook his head.

"Sorry, where are my manners. I'm Michael Ecclestone, the owner of most of this town's shipping ports and of this estate state." He presented himself with a fake wide smile, extending his hand to the girl first.

His father always used to say that one caught more bees with honey than vinegar, and he was right. Whoever these people were they didn't seem to be a threat to him, but he knew that as soon as they realized he knew they were lying they would bolt. Especially the girl who kept looking out of place.

The girl Lenalee extended her hand and shook his hand more firmly than he would expect from a woman.

"It's very nice to meet the master of this mansion. My name is Lenalee Lee, and this is my associate Allen Walker." She said cheerfully, as she kept shaking his hand.

Michael grinned and nodded as he looked from Lenalee to Allen who still hadn't said anything since he arrived.

"Very nice to meet you Miss Lenalee, and you as well Sir Allen." He said, looking straight at Allen as he spoke, but Allen barely even blinked, and he almost frowned.

There was something odd about him, he didn't know what but there was something in his gut telling him to stay as far away from this exorcist as possible.

An awkward silence dominated the room as Michael continued to stare at Allen until finally, he chose to break it.

He turned his head and looked at Lenalee.

"So I overheard what you said before. You're here to investigate what's been going on in town? Seems a bit strange don't it, why would the church send you?" He asked genuinely intrigued.

He looked at her with a smile on his face as she looked at the boy named Allen, as if hoping he would help her out, but he didn't so much as turn to look at her. However, after a few seconds of her almost imploring him to say something she gave out a sigh and turned to look at him.

"It would be if we were normal exorcist, but were not. Were from a different branch of the church. Our job is to investigate and deal with strange activities around the world. We got the news that strange things have been happening in this town lately, and the authorities don't know what it is so it's up to us to find out." she explained.

She paused for a second and leaned closer looking at him with a concerned expression.

"Have you seen anything strange lately?" She asked, her voice more serious and lacking that singsong element to it.

From beside her Allen put his cup of tea down and gave him his full attention, and Michael did the same. As he looked at the White haired boy's eyes he could see a coldness in then he hadn't notice. He blinked and his eyes drifted to Frederick and both their gazes met. He saw in them what he expected, worry. Strange things had been happening indeed.

Michael shook his head and turned his head to look at Lenalee once more.

"Not really, I rarely leave this house." He told her, and her face fell. She clearly thought he knew something, and she wouldn't be wrong either.

He did know more than he let on, a lot more but he didn't trust them enough to tell them. The odd things that have been happening, even though he needed help he would face it alone, as he always did.

Michael grabbed the cup of tea Frederick put on the coffee table in front of him and took a sip. His gaze turned to Allen once more, and as expected gray untrusting eyes met his. Unlike her, he clearly didn't believe him.

' _Smart_ ' he thought to himself.

The silence in the room remained for an awkward few seconds, as Lenalee stirred her tea with a small silver spoon.

"That's unfortunate. We can't leave this town until we find out what's happening, we thought you might know something." She huffed, sounding regretful as she slumped back on her chair.

As he looked at her he felt a little sorry, he could tell she didn't have any bad intentions, nor is she a bad person, he was a good judge of character after all. However, her associate, well he just knew he was trouble.

Michael leaned back on his chair and let out a deep sigh.

"I can let you stay at the mansion until your mission is over, but you'll have to leave after." he conceded.

Lenalee straightened up and beamed at him which he couldn't help but smile in return. She maybe we weird for an exorcist, but she had good intentions. He didn't know her but by the concern, he could see in her eyes he knew she really did care for the town's safety.

"That would be very helpful." she smiled, and Michael nodded.

Both of them took a sip from their own cups and softly put it down, and he notices that Allen hasn't even been following the conversation.

His eyes drifted from his cup of tea to look at the white-haired boy, and so did Lenalee. As he thought Allen wasn't looking at them, or even acknowledging what was being said, he was instead looking straight a Frederick.

Michael furrowed his brows and looked at the old man. He -very unlike himself- was looking everywhere else but at the exorcists that was looking at him. Michael looked closer as he noticed that sweat was beading down his forehead even though it was quite cold, as well as the way his hands shook ever so slightly. Something was clearly not right.

Michael turned his eyes back to Allen.

"Alright there Allen?" He asked, and the white-haired boy snapped his eyes away from Frederick and looked at him, his face almost comical as he looked at him confused.

"Ugh?" he asked unsure for a second, his eyes shifting from Lenalee to him until he seemed to understand the question, and nodded.

"Yea I'm fine" he assured him.

At hearing his voice he was shocked to hear how strangely musical it was. His pitch wasn't deep, nor was it too high either, which was odd.

A moment of silence passed between them, as Allen shifted on his spot until he was facing him, his expression one of curiosity.

"Actually, if you don't mind me asking. How long have you known Frederick?" He asked curiously.

Michael's frown deepened. He was expecting Allen to ask anything but he wasn't expecting that. Out of habit, his eyes shift to Frederick just like he used to do when he was younger and an adult asked him a question. However, unlike before Frederick wasn't mouthing the words at him but rather stood still, his muscles tensing.

A feeling of foreboding overcame him, he really didn't like this.

"Since I can remember really. He's been with my family before I was even born," he answered, turning to look back at Allen once more.

Allen gave him a curt nod and took a sip of his tea, and gently put his cup down on the table with great sophistication.

His eyes shoot to the cup of tea and narrowed ever so slightly. It wasn't that noticeable, but for someone who spent all his life in ballrooms and among the influential side of society he could tell that Allen was no mere street boy, he could the moment he stepped foot in the sitting room. The way he carried himself, the way he looked around the house, not at all impressed, as well as the elegant way he sat with one leg crossed over the other, and lastly the least noticeable of all, the way he almost seemed to look down on people. From the few minutes he's known him he only caught him doing that twice. To him, and then Frederick.

His grip on his teacup tightened at the thought that he was looking down on him. He didn't know who he was and what he really came here to do, but he wasn't just going to sit here and let him judge him or Frederick.

Michael, gently put his own cup down beside Allen's and gave him his full attention.

"And how about you Allen," he asked, his voice cold.

"What about me?" Allen shot back with a smile that only served to annoy him further.

"Well since we're in the topic of personal questions, tell me. Which aristocratic family do you belong to? Your face seems familiar but I can't seem to place where I've seen it before." He mused, and for the first time, Allen's smile wavers a bit but only to come at a full vengeance.

"You must have me confused with someone else." he sang, leaning forward on his seat.

Michael gave him an amused smile in return, and he leaned forward as well, copying his posture. If he was going to mock him in his own house then so was he.

"You must be right of course. I just thought it was odd how well a man of the church carries himself is all."

"You mustn't frequent the church to think that way then." Allen shot back, taking a sip of his tea.

He let out a low chuckle, and nodded his head not denying his claim, he really did not go to the church often. In fact, the last time he did was years ago when Frederick insisted he go, saying that the town's folk would think it weird if he didn't. What was the point of going to church in the first place?

"I'll admit I don't, I've never been blessed with strong faith. However, I do know that scar you bear is not common for an exorcist. So tell me where did an exorcistt get such as yourself get a scar like that?"

He looked straight at the clear blue eyes in amusement as they twitched ever so slightly. For a brief moment, they remained looking at each other, Allen's expression one of amusement but his eyes gave away what he was really thinking. They were cold and calculating, a complete opposite to how innocently he appeared.

Allen tore his gaze away from his, and reached for the cup of tea on the table and took a sip from it.

"I was too young to remember, but probably from someone that wasn't very nice. Now you tell me, with such a large mansion why are you living alone? Surely someone as wealthy as you should already be married." he asked, switching topics quickly and with ease.

From where she sat beside him Lenalee shifted on her chair almost uncomfortably, as she looked at Allen with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Allen," she warned, but Allen didn't as much as look at her.

Michael chuckle, gaining Lenalee's attention once more.

"I guess I never met anyone worth my while. Now, you tell me why someone as young as you be an exorcist would?. Most exorcist I've ever met are usually old, no offence." he asked, gaining a smile from Allen who took another sip from his tea.

It was an odd game they were playing, asking personal questions and he didn't understand how it began but he thought it was amusing, especially at seeing how it seemed to annoy him.

"As my associate explained to you, we're not like the regular exorcists you've no doubt met before. I was taught to be an exorcist from a very young age," he explained, the amusement slowly draining out of his voice.

At the mention of being taken in by the church at a young age, Michael's eyes flew to Allen's to look at him with shock.

He was an orphan, how? It didn't at all make sense with the way he carried himself, nor the way he moved and behaved like he was brought up in a life of luxury. He could be lying of course, but the way he said it he knew he wasn't, not to mention that he also, knew from experience.

Silence dominated the room, as Michael looked at straight at the white-haired boy's eyes.

Allen leaned forward on his chair and looked straight at him.

"Tell me, how did your parents die?" He asked, his voice sounding louder than it was due to the silence.

"Allen!" the girl Lenalee scolded, as she looked at him with disbelief.

For a brief moment, Allen's eyes remained on his, as the corners of his lips twitched, on the other hand, Michael couldn't help but look at him with both shock and anger.

Lenalee stood up, snapping both Allen and Michael from their staring contest as they looked up at her.

"I'm so sorry for our manners sir Michael, and if your offer still stands we would like to retire for the night," she said, bowing her slightly.

Michael's eyes shifted to Allen who was no longer looking at him but at the raven-haired girl. He wanted to say no, one because he didn't trust him, and two because he didn't like him at all, but at the same time he wanted to help her. He didn't think she was a danger, and he truly believes that she actually wants to help, so even though her companion is an ass he would help her out.

Letting out a deep sigh he sat back on his chair.

"It's quite alright, I'm not easily offended and besides, what kind of host would I be if I send you out at this hour?" he asked and waved Frederick to him.

"Will you take our guest to their rooms? Oh, and make sure they're well fed as well," he ordered, and the older man gave him a curt bow.

"Of course sir, shall I set a spot for you at the table?" he asked.

Michael shook his head and stood, followed by Allen who he realized was slightly shorter than him.

"No, I'll retire for the night."

Frederick bowed and gestured for Lenalee, and Allen to follow him, however, before they did Lenalee gave him a wide smile.

"Good evening sir Michael," she said brightly and followed Frederick out the room, with Allen in tow who didn't so much as turn to look at him.

"Good night Lenalee, and to you too Allen." He said, but once again the white-haired boy didn't turn to look at him. say anything, and instead, he looked back with the same cold eyes.

He watched as their figures exited the room, his friendly smile falling as they did.

* * *

Sorry, this chapter took a while, but I've been really busy with exams and the likes so i didn't have time to write. Hopefully, now that I'm done I can update a lot more.

This is a bit of a slow chapter, but it needed to be written in order to set up the action. next chapter will be a lot more interesting believe me.


	11. Chapter 11: Knight, exorcist trickster

Chapter 11

The knight, the exorcist and the trickster

* * *

Allen leaned back on the bathtub, his gaze on the ceiling as he tried to relax.

After they spoke and were more or less dismissed, he and Lenalee were brought to the dining hall where they ate, and Allen pushed down the urge to complain about the little amount of food he was given. After that, the butler Frederick -a man that is more than what meets the eye- had told them they've be staying at the guest's section, and brought them there without any of them saying a word.

As they walked through the halls Allen looked around the corridors, his expression one of fake awe and admiration, and so was Lenalee but hers was genuine. He had seen and been inside many mansions before and with how luxurious some parts of the ark were, he wasn't at all impressed.

As they stopped outside their separate rooms, hers next to the stairway and his at the end of the hall, Frederick said his goodbyes and told them to ask for him is they need anything.

Having had a long day, Allen said his goodbye to Lenalee but the pigtail wouldn't hear it. Just as he was walking away, she grabbed him by the lapels of his coat and pulled him into a corner with more force than he would expect. At first, he had been confused as to why she was angry, but then she began giving him an earful for disrespecting the annoying, so-called master of the mansion. She claimed that since he was so gracious to let them stay at his home, then they should be a little nicer to him. Of course, he had no other choice but to agree with her, and apologize even though he felt like his stomach was twisting into knots for doing so.

At the memory, his hands clenched into fists, and he rose from the bathtub, water sliding down his body as he made his way to the towel hanging by the wall.

After Lenalee had allowed him to leave, and he had finally come into his room the first thing he did was take a bath, not wanting to remain in his filthy sweat covered clothes any longer. He may not be as sophisticated as some of the other noah, but he was still just as particular about his hygiene.

Bringing the towel up to his hair he softly dried it, causing it to stick out at odd angles. After his hair, and body was dried he walked to the table in front of him and grabbed the set of clothes that had been set there for him. One of the servants had come in just as he was taking his bath, and took his dirty clothes and left these fresh ones for him. He didn't know where these clothes came from, but he dearly hoped they didn't belong to that rat.

Allen grimaced at the thought, and brought the clothes to his nose and took a short whiff at it. The fabric smelled like fresh soap, and oils, and he couldn't detect a trace of the rat so these clothes didn't belong to him.

Satisfied, he slipped into the trousers and a white dress shirt. A set of sleep clothes were also, brought in but he wasn't going to sleep, at least not yet. He still had someone he had to pay a visit to.

He rolled the sleeves of the shirt up to his elbows, and tucked his shirt inside his trousers, he then looked down at himself and gave out a satisfied huff. It wasn't exactly something he would wear, but it would have to make due.

Allen walked to the door to his room and opened it. As if desperately, Tim flew through the doorway to hover above his head. He looked up at the golem slightly annoyed but ultimately left it alone. It had been difficult to force the little thing to stay in the other room as he bathed, he'd come to get used to the golem flying above his head but he also, wanted some time to be alone as well.

Allen rolled his eyes in exasperation and looked up to scold the golem but before he could say anything he froze.

The room he was staying in was shredded in utter darkness, the candles that had been lit before he left to bathe were all blown out, leaving the moonlight shining through the window as the only source of light. From where he flew above him Tim nudged his cheek with his round form as if telling him to look somewhere.

Allen's annoyance drained as he moved his head to where the golem was trying to move it to. Just as he looked ahead of him, at the corner of the room shrouded in the darkness he realizes why Tim had been so desperate to see him.

"Good you're here saves me the trouble of going to find you." Allen mused with a grin on his lips.

With Tim following closely behind, and almost hiding behind his back Allen walked to the small seating area. One of the large chairs beside the coffee table was facing away from the corner, and so Allen grabbed it and turned it on the spot, and sat on it, his eyes looking straight at the dark corner.

Seeing as he was shrouded in darkness, and no one could see him, Allen took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Slowly the pink tone of his skin reseeded, revealing a gray skin tone instead, as well as the stigmata on his forehead. Once the change was complete, Allen let out a satisfied hum and stretched his neck. Being in his human form always felt strange, as if he had been wearing a glove for too long at it had begun to itch, and never had he been forced to remain in it for so long, which is why he was desperate to change into his real form.

Slowly he reopened his eyelids, revealing a set of amber slit eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.

"Why don't you come out of the shadows, I hate not being able to see whom I'm talking to." He huffed, leaning back on his chair and adopting a more relaxed posture as he crossed his legs. Tim, on the other hand, flapped his wings faster, appearing to be more agitated at the situation.

From the shadows a from began to stir, and move closer into the beam of light created by the moon shining through the window. Allen watched amused as the form moved slowly until finally, it revealed itself. Standing before him was none other than the Butler, Frederick.

When he first saw the Butler he noticed how meticulous he was with his appearance, but now unlike before the old man wasn't looking as confident, but rather afraid and nervous. Allen could tell by the way his eyes darted around the room as if worried someone would walk in, and fearful because his hands shook uncontrollably, and that amused him. Allen didn't know him, but he no doubt knew who he was and feared him, not that he would blame him. Apart from the way he behaved, the old Butler's appearance was everything but pristine. His hair was standing up at odd angles due to how many times he passed his hand through its strands, and his clothes were slightly crumpled at the lapels.

"There you are." He grinned, his teeth flashing from the moonlight.

Frederick visibly tensed as he spoke, but then he seemed to gather himself. Looking down at the floor, he bowed his head deeply.

"Noah sama." He practically murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as he spoke.

"Akuma." Allen shot back.

For a little while, both of them just remained quiet, as Frederick slowly looked up from the ground to look at him. However, he still wouldn't meet his eyes, as he looked everywhere.

"I must admit I didn't think I'd find an Akuma here, and at first I was intrigued, but then I came to realize that I ultimately don't care. I don't want to know why you're here, nor how you came to be here, nor why you're pretending to be human. I just want to know one thing." Allen said, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward on his spot.

The atmosphere tensed, and the temperature seemed to get colder as he looked at the frightened Akuma/butler in the eyes, his amber eyes seeming to glow fiercely in the darkness.

"Tell me where the innocence is" he commanded.

The atmosphere in the room dipped even lower as the Akuma visibly shook on the spot. His hands were shaking more than ever before, yet his face remained the same, expressionless. Allen knew of course that he was everything but emotionless, and just the fact that he hadn't answered was evidence enough that there was something clearly wrong with this Akuma. It was incredibly rare for them to disobey or even hesitate when given an order, in fact, if Allen ordered it to kill himself a normal Akuma would do it on the spot, however, this didn't seem to be the case for this one. Of course, he knew some Akumas have been converted by Cross, and thus they'd be under his command but he didn't think this Akuma was one of them.

Frederick closed his eyes and looked down at the floor.

"I…" he stopped, hesitating and that might as well sealed his fate.

Allen sighed and leaned back on his chair, his eyes still on the Akuma.

"Come now I already know it's here, and that you know all about it. What I don't understand is why you haven't said anything? There are approximately four akumas in this town, and yet you haven't revealed your finding to anyone, now I wonder why that is?" He mused to himself, as he looked at the Akuma thoughtfully, the man's eyes filled with fear and that is when it hit him.

Once more Allen leaned forward on his spot, and the corner of his lip curled up in amusement. Could it really be? Allen's eyes narrowed as he examined the butler, his cursed eye activating as he did. Behind the Akuma floated the trapped soul within it, encased in chains. The soul itself was that of an of middle-aged man, with short hair and a short beard. Much like Frederick, the suffering soul of the man was looking away from him in fear, and as Allen looked at it he quickly started to see a resemblance in the man, and he knew who this was.

Once more his eyes went back to Frederick, and his eye deactivated. It had to be who he thought it was, and just by the fear in his eyes, he knew that what he thought was correct, and boy did that make things more interesting. Not to mention that it would so be much fun seeing all of this unravel in front of him.

Allen leaned closer, placing his elbows on his knees, the light from the moon casting half his face in light and the rest in deep shadows.

"He's your son, isn't he? This butler - Frederick- he brought you back?" He asked his voice laced with amusement.

As he looked at him, he saw as Frederick's eye widen, his expression no longer emotionless but rather filled with many different emotions. Sweat began to slide down from his forehead, and his breath came in faster as he looked straight at him for the first time. Both of their gazed remained locked until the Akuma seemed to gather himself and turned his eyes away from him to look down at the floor in guilt, and Allen couldn't help but smile in glee. Out of all the possible things that could happen in this mission, this had to be by far the most interesting, and here he thought he would have to remain bored while with the order. Clearly, he was wrong, maybe these missions could be more fun than he thought.

"Oh, and I thought these missions were going to be boring!" He practically sang, his voice sharp and his smile frightening as he looked at the shaking Akuma.

Ultimately he knew his job was to find the innocence shard, but nobody said he couldn't have fun on the way? Even Cross didn't say he couldn't use Akumas, he probably hated them after all so what would he care of he caused suffering to one? And on the other side, the Earl didn't say he couldn't still use Akumas either, and he knew he didn't care if he used them for his games, he often did and the Earl never once said anything. After all, they had hundreds of Akumas, how much could one little Akuma worth?

The Akuma continued to shake on the spot, his fists clenched tightly, as Allen stood from his seat and walked up to him. Upon his lips, a bright smile as he looked down at the butler. He knew exactly what he would do with this unruly Akuma.

Stepping closer and closer to him, Allen stood in front of him, as he looked down at the old man that was shrinking in on himself.

Allen looked down at the man, without an ounce of pity as he did. He never really liked Akumas, in fact, he hated them. They were always so quick to jump in to follow their orders and please them that to him they were nothing more than animals. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't think them important, quite the contrary really. He knew they were one of their most powerful weapons against the order not because of their strength of powers, just with his family, they had enough of that, no it was because numbers are what won wars. He wasn't as arrogant as they thought he was, he knew that –due to their sheer size- the Black order could defeat his family, which is why they had Akumas to turn the tide. So yes they were important, but in the end, they will always be mindless objects, just a weapon to be exploited and a means to an end.

Raising his hand Allen placed it on the Akumas shoulder and gripped his shoulder almost tenderly, and the old man froze from the contact.

"I want you to kill him." He ordered simply, his words filled with amusement as if he hadn't just ordered the death of someone, after all, he had been planning how to kill the annoying pest from the moment he met him.

He didn't really understand why, or where his hate for Michael came from, but he knew he got under his skin and for that reason he wanted to be rid of him. And he didn't even have to mention that he was on to him, having already figured out that he came from an aristocratic family rather than the streets. He didn't know how he did it seeing as his cover fooled even those in the Black order, but he did know that such information is dangerous to his mission. Even Lenalee had been confused and looked at him a bit skeptical after Michael said that, and he could tell as Lenalee watched him closely when he ate. For that reason, he had been forced to behave as unrefined as possible. Of course, he was aware that if Lenalee did find out then he would have to kill her, and something told him he wouldn't find that as fun as he usually would, not to mention that Cross would have a tantrum.

Frederick's eyes flew to his, as he looked at him with fear to the point he thought he might breakdown, after all a noahs orders are absolute and this Akuma had no other choice but to follow them, however, that didn't seem to be the case for this Akuma as he didn't say anything.

Allen's brows curved in both amusement and interest. Any other time he would have been annoyed that an Akuma was being rebellious, but now it only amused him and brought satisfaction as he saw how conflicted the old man was.

"Is this hesitation I see?" He asked, taking a step towards him and leaning his head down so his mouth was near his ear. Once more the Akuma froze on the spot, sweat trailing down his forehead, and his breathing quickened.

"You know, if I wanted to I could have you kill yourself in the most painful way possible, and believe me I can think up some very creative ways for you to do that. And you know what the best thing is? You'll do it without a second thought, and without hesitation, because your very purpose is to serve us noahs." He sneered.

The atmosphere tensed, as Frederick stopped breathing altogether, and looked up at him with wide eyes. And as Allen leaned back and looked at him he knew any other human would have been conflicted, and feel pity for the Akuma, but not him. He relished this moment, the moment when someone knew they were done for when they knew they had no other choice, and those were the moments he lived for.

Allen's grip on the Akuma's shoulder tightened exponentially, causing the Akuma to jerk on the spot.

His eyes turned colder, and his smile fell as he looked at the Akuma straight in the eyes.

"So if I say you kill that rat, then you do it without question am I clear?" He asked, his voice low and deathly serious.

Unlike before, the Akuma nodded hastily without hesitation.

"Yes, noah sama."

Allen's lips curled up into a smile and he let go of the Akuma and took a step away from him.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked with amusement, but the Akuma didn't say anything, he simply stood there looking down at the floor in misery.

Once more he didn't care, as he turned away from the butler until suddenly Allen grabbed his left hand an activated his innocence. In a blink of an eye, he turned on the spot and with his sword, in his hand, he drove it right into the Akuma's abdomen, barely missing any vital parts that would kill him instantly.

The silence in the room was broken as Frederick groaned sharply in pain, and coughed up what appeared to be black blood on the floor. His eyes were wide in fear and pain, as his hands trembled and looked at the cold eyes of Allen, his face devoid of a smile.

"That's for betraying your cause." He said, his voice cold more so than ever before.

Allen looked down at the Akuma one last time and he painfully pulled his sword out of his abdomen and returned it back to its natural state, as he did so the Akuma gave out another pained groan and he fell to the ground, his hands pressing down on his wound that wouldn't heal. His innocence may be converted, but it still did considerable damage to Akumas and other noahs so that wound would kill him, and there was nothing that would stop that from happening.

Allen looked down on himself and with dark matter, he burned off the blood from the Akuma that had splattered on him, not at all caring that the Akuma was writhing in pain, instead, he looked down at him annoyed, and disgusted. Without so much as another glance, he turned on the spot an headed towards the door, only to stop halfway.

"Oh, and my order still stands. Kill Michael Ecclestone before you die, if you fail I want you to end your own life." He ordered sharply, a wide grin on his lips, as he changed back to his human form and exited the room, the sounds of pain emanating from the Akuma as he did, only to die as he shut the door behind him.

For a little while, Allen stood in front of the door, looking from one side of the corridor to the other to make sure no one had heard, and more especially Lenalee. With worry, his eyes shoot to the door of her room, a few rooms away from his and noticed it was still shut, and he sighed in relief, his body seeming to deflate. At first, he hadn't known why Frederick had assigned them to rooms so far from each other, but now he did. He knew they would make a bit of noise with their conversation, and with what little left he had of commitment to their cause he made sure they wouldn't be heard. At that thought, Allen glanced back at the closed door behind him with amusement. Maybe he wasn't a lost cause? Too bad though, because he was still going to die no matter what.

Allen looked back from the door to look ahead of him, only to come nose to nose with an angry Timcanpy.

The golden golem was flapping his wings angrily, and flying up and down on the spot its tail swishing from side to side haphazardly, prompting Allen to lean his head back before it could hit him in the face.

"What are you mad about? I didn't even kill him," He hissed softly, his eyes looking around the corridor to make sure no one was listening, only to come back to Tim and glare at the little golem.

That didn't seem to be enough for the golem as he flew up, Allen's eyes following him. Once he was above him, Tim dived and hit him straight on the nose, the hit creating s soft smacking sound.

Allen groaned, more so in annoyance than pain and he reached for the golem, but his hands barely missed its long tail as he flew up and evaded him. Once more Tim flew up and head-butted him on the forehead, Allen's eyes filled with annoyance and anger as he jumped up and reached for the golem's tail only to fail to grab him.

"Oh, once I get my hands on you…" he hissed angrily, and once more leaped on the spot, appearing a lot like a cat trying to catch a bird from the air. Both Allen and Tim continued to do the same thing for a while, Allen trying to catch him and Tim avoiding his reach, and every time he failed he would head-butt him again.

After a long while, Allen had a bruise on his forehead and Tim flew above him, his wings flapping fast as if he was making fun of him.

Allen glared up at the golem, as he waited patiently like a cat hunting it's pray. Once Tim flew down a little, Allen jumped and finally grabbed him by the tail, Tim's wing s flapping haphazardly, trying fly away.

Finally, Allen brought the annoying golem to his face and smiled wickedly.

"I told you I was going to get my hands on you, you annoying-"

"Allen." Lenalee's voice rang from across the corridor, almost prompting him to let go of the golem, as he and Tim turned to look at her.

Lenalee was walking up to them. She was wearing a nice, expensive looking dress, and her hair was done in the same pigtails, but the bands that held her hair were rightly adorned. On her feet, she wore her boots which he knew were her innocence. Overall she didn't look like she was ready to go to sleep, she looked like she was ready to attend a party or something.

Finally reaching them, she stood in front of them both, looking from Tim to him as if trying to figure out what was going on, her eyes on Allen's hand that was gripping Tim's tail.

A quick as he could Allen let go of the golem, and waved his arms innocently, with an awkward smile on his face.

"Hey Lenalee, Tim and I were just playing, right Tim?" he asked, his face full of fake innocence as the golem looked from Lenalee to Allen, seeming to be conflicted and Allen actually felt himself get nervous.

Lenalee continued to look at the golem in almost worry, and again Allen felt become even more nervous.

'Stupid tennis ball.' He thought to himself, it was probably his plan to make him feel like this.

Eventually, Tim flew up and down as if in a nod, and flew to Lenalee where he flew around her head cheerfully, his wings flappy quickly.

Lenalee gave out a soft chuckle and extended her finger out so Tim could perch on it, while Allen had to spot the urge of letting out a deep sigh of relief.

Tim landed on her finger, where he curled his tail and faced Allen, and Allen couldn't help but feel like the golem was mocking him, and he had to hold the urge to narrow his eyes and glare at it. Just like Cross Tim was just as annoying, perhaps less so but still annoying.

"So." She drawled, prompting Allen to look from Tim to look up at her instead.

"It's getting late, why are you walking in the corridors?" she asked, sounding both concerned, and intrigued.

For a second he considered lying to her, and his mouth almost opened involuntarily to do just that, too used to lying. But then he thought there was no danger in Lenalee knowing, after all, he really was going to search for the innocence, to destroy it and tell Lenalee it was too late to retrieve it, but now he supposed he would have to find it and retrieve it for the order no matter how much that thought pained him.

Allen looked down at the floor sheepishly, like a child who had just been caught out of bed.

"Well I thought I'd go looking for the innocence, you know while everyone's asleep. How about you?" he asked, genuinely intrigued. If he was out of bed and poking his nose in places they couldn't be then so was she. Her very atire told him she wasn't planning to go to sleep anytime now, and he knew she wasn't going to a party or something, the servants probably brought her the dress and it was either wear it or wear her dirty exorcist uniform.

Lenalee let out a sigh, and Tim flew off her finger to fly above her head instead.

"Same thing, though I hope you were planning to get me. It's dangerous to look for innocence alone, especially when we don't know what it is, not to mention that everything's been too easy." She almost whispered the last word, as if afraid she might jinx it.

Once more, Allen had to stop himself from reacting the usual way he might react, by giving out an amused snort. This was easy to her? Walking around town for hours like a pair of idiots, neither of them knowing where to go or where to look until one of the townsfolk recommended they come here. No, for Allen this wasn't easy. Easy for him was finding an innocence and ordering Akuma to get it for him, unwilling to get his hands dirty unless it was worth his time. That being said he never once had to walk for such a long period of time. Never had to lower himself and ask strangers for help. No, for him this wasn't easy at all.

"What'd you mean?" he asked, his face one of concern.

Before answering Lenalee looked from side to side, as if making sure no one was listening and took a step towards him as she looked at him with genuine concern.

"Well we haven't encountered any Akumas all day for one, and I just can't shake the feeling that they're out there watching us. I just don't know why."

As he listened to her, Allen wanted to curve his brow in amusement and intrigue. This girl, exorcist or not, she had some good instincts on her, more than he could say for the rest. Most exorcists, talented or not, seldom to ever listen to that voice of wisdom in their head, which in the end is what brought them to their own demise. However, this girl was different. She seemed to listen to the voice in her head and he couldn't help it but actually respect her for that, especially since he knew things really weren't quite right.

Early in the day, after he had ordered the Akumas to look for the innocence and kill Lenalee and the finder, he had been confused when none of the akumas attacked or even showed their faces. As Allen had pondered as to why that was, he at first thought it was because the Earl ordered them not to follow his orders, which didn't make sense since the butler proved that theory wrong, which only left him with another answer. Tyki hadn't left as he asked him to, and he was ordering the Akumas to disregard his orders and that worried him. He didn't fear Tyki hurting him –at least too badly- but he did worry that he might sabotage his mission. He honestly couldn't know the noah of pleasure's plan, but if he was right and he was indeed still in town looking for the innocence, then Lenalee had to worry much more than finding a simple innocence.

"I agree, this has been t-"

Before he could finish what he was about to say, a loud clanking sound interrupted him, causing both of them to ready into a fighting stance and turn their heads and look at what caused the sound. As they looked, the corridor was just as empty as before, and nothing seemed to be out of place, not to mention that the sound –whatever it was- sounded like it had come from outside.

Both of them turned to look at each other for a brief second, then they both simultaneously ran down the corridor, trying to make their way outdoors to see what had caused such a loud sound. As they did he couldn't help but feel a bit of forewarning. He knew Tyki was probably still in town, and so no matter what they do they would walk into a trap one he wouldn't walk out of without revealing his identity which is why Tyki was doing this to amuse himself.

Allen clenched his jaw in annoyance. He knew he couldn't beat Tyki if he couldn't use his noah powers, and even then he couldn't and neither could he, their abilities are the exact opposites after all. Because of this they never fought each other, the Earl forbid it since there wouldn't be a definitive winner, but now they could even though it wouldn't be the same. Any other time he might have been excited, but damn it he had only spent two days with the Black order and his cover was going to be blown and in front of an exorcist.

His eyes shifted from the ground look at Lenalee who was running in front of him.

He will probably kill her before the night ends, and though he knew Cross would be beyond furious, even he had to understand there was no other way. Too bad really, for an exorcist she really was kind of decent.

Another bang rang from the outside, causing both Allen and Lenalee to stop and look out the window to see what was going on, what they saw had them both looking out the window confused.

Outside, running in the garden with a rapier was Michael, and following closely behind with a great sword was a golden suit of armour whose eyes glowed white through its helmet.

' _That's something you don't see every day_.' he thought to himself.

* * *

Hey so that was the next chapter, I did say it would be more interesting than the last one even though next chapter should be even more interesting.

So you'll get to see what Tyki has been up to, and hopefully, this story arc will be finished by next chapter... if everything goes according to plan that is.

So thanks for reading guys!


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